Companies

Further attempts to settle a securities class action against last mile logistics software firm GetSwift would be like flogging a dead horse, a judge has heard as the matter works its way towards a final hearing.

Commonwealth Bank of Australia could be on the hook for a large penalty after the court found the bank engaged in misleading and deceptive conduct and violated its financial services obligations on more than 12,000 occasions by overcharging customers more than $2.2 million in interest.

PricewaterhouseCoopers is looking to shut down a class action by irate bondholders of collapsed asset finance lender Axsesstoday Limited over alleged misrepresentations in a $50 million bond offer.

Pharmaceutical companies Sanofi and Bristol-Myers Squibb are liable for losses to the federal government for excess subsidies it allegedly paid for the blood-thinner Plavix after an unjustified court injunction prevented the release of a generic version of the top-selling drug, an appeals court has heard.

A $37.75 million settlement has been reached in a shareholder class action against Estia Health that accused the aged care provider of failing to disclose difficulties in its 2015 and 2016 acquisition strategy.

US pharmaceutical giant Merck Sharp & Dohme has taken Sandoz to court for allegedly threatening to infringe the patent for its multibillion-dollar diabetes drugs Janumet and Januvia.

GetSwift has been criticised for its "quite unfair attack" on a Federal Court judge who refused to disqualify himself from hearing a shareholder class action against the logistics software company after presiding over ASIC's civil penalty proceeding against the company.

A judge has raised questions about an estimated $13.6 million in legal costs to be sought in an upcoming approval hearing on a $44.5 million settlement reached in a shareholder class action against Woolworths.

Proceedings launched by ASIC in December accusing the Commonwealth Bank of Australia of saddling consumers with $2.9 million in inflated interest rates on their business overdraft accounts on more than 12,000 occasions will move swiftly to a penalties hearing.

Two shareholders of failed Arrium Group have secured leave from the High Court to challenge a ruling that nixed their planned examination of a former director to bolster a class action over the collapse of the steel producer.