A judge has approved a notice in a class action against Westpac alerting group members that an “expense sharing order” will be sought by the applicants if or when the case settles, the first ruling of its kind since the High Court struck down common fund orders.
Sparke Helmore is equally responsible for a $76.6 million judgment against IOOF subsidiary Australian Executor Trustees over the sale of a timber plantation by collapsed forestry giant Gunns Group, an appeals court heard Thursday.
Westpac is still locked in mediation with AUSTRAC over allegations that it committed over 23 million breaches of anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing laws, with the bank’s hopes of moving to a penalty hearing in the early part of the year fading.
A judge overseeing a class action against National Australia Bank over ‘junk insurance’ has ordered that potential group members be given information about cancelling the policies, but not before taking the applicants to task for not having the polices automatically cancelled as part of the $49.5 million settlement.
The former directors of defunct financial advisory firm Storm Financial have failed in their appeal of a ruling that found they breached their duties to eleven vulnerable investors by providing a one-size-fits-all model of investment advice that was inappropriate.
A judge has criticised as “meretricious” and “ridiculous” opposition by Commonwealth Bank of Australia to a discovery application by a former general manager who claims he lost his job for blowing the whistle on alleged manipulation of staff bonuses.
A judge has ordered ASIC to wait 48 hours after making any decision to send a warning notice to investment conglomerate Mayfair 101 before publicly issuing the notice, despite the regulator’s call for urgent action amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission will continue its enforcement activities amid the spread of the coronavirus but will prioritise cracking down on behaviour that threatens “immediate consumer harm”.
For the lawyers conducting the committal hearings in the criminal cartel case over ANZ’s $2.5 billion equity raising, the Sydney Downing Centre courtroom was already too close for comfort.
The Australian arm of French investment banking giant Societe Generale is facing four criminal charges for allegedly failing to comply with its obligations to keep client money in separate bank accounts.