Trials

The fallacy that shareholders must precisely prove the amount of loss caused by a listed company's breaches has finally been exposed by the Full Federal Court, a trial judge has been told in a class action over the collapse of steel maker Arrium.

KPMG failed to bring the necessary scepticism to the task of auditing failing steel manufacturer Arrium, instead leaving contradictory evidence unresolved and giving the company a clean bill of health, a shareholder class action has told the court.

Hitting back at a class action's claims that it breached gambling laws with its 'fast code' betting, Sportsbet told a trial judge on Tuesday its representatons about the service were true, and that in any case punters weren't entitled to damages that didn't account for winnings.

A shareholder class action against Nuix has argued that its IPO should never have gone ahead, taking the court to email exchanges about its history of disappointing results, which the tech company's former CFO called "worse than terrible".

A shareholder class action against KPMG and ex-Arrium directors says the company's accounts were infected by "chronic and systemic overoptimism", with the former operator of Whyalla Steelworks portraying as viable a business that was impaired up to $2.8 billion.

Sportsbet's 'fast code' betting system was not a genuine telephone betting service because customers had already transmitted  information before making the call, according to a class action which argues punters would not have placed bets had they known the system was illegal. 

As proof of its popularity as a class action jurisdiction, the Supreme Court of Victoria will hear opening submissions in three class action trials on Monday, an unprecedented number in a single day for the court.

Gas giant Woodside has hit back at claims by activist groups that the federal environment minister's department "negotiated" with the company ahead of approving a 40-year extension to its North West Shelf project.

Activist group Friends of Australian Rock Art have alleged environment and water minister Murray Watt "cherry picked" potential economic and social benefits of Woodside's North West Shelf project while ignoring the harms.

Communications between the environment minister's department and Woodside over the gas company's controversial North West Shelf project raised concerns about the apprehension of bias, activist group Australian Conservation Foundation has told a trial judge.