The Federal Court has approved a $14.6 million class action settlement with private training company Ashley Services, auditors Deloitte and Grant Thornton, and Holmes Management Group, with IMF Bentham set to pocket around $4.8 million for funding the litigation.
AUSTRAC has ordered buy now, pay later giant Afterpay to appoint an independent auditor to oversee its compliance with anti-money laundering laws.
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission has narrowly lost its High Court appeal of a ruling that found the owner of a South Australian outback general store had not acted unconscionably by selling used cars through a “book-up” system.
Banking giant Westpac has settled an investor class action brought by Levitt Robinson for its alleged role in an unregistered managed investment scheme.
Slater and Gordon is looking to significantly expand its class action against National Australia Bank over the sale of “worthless” credit card insurance to include personal loan customers who were sold allegedly unsuitable insurance policies.
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission has lost its market manipulation action against Whitebox Trading and its director Johannes Boshoff, with the court finding it was “practically impossible” that any of the trades at the centre of the case were made for an illegitimate purpose.
Former executives of wealth manager IOOF facing disqualification proceedings by the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority have criticised the prudential regulator for a late and extensive discovery request, saying it could “imperil” the July trial date.
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission is pushing back against an application by ANZ Bank to stay the regulator’s civil penalties case over disclosures related to a $2.5 billion equity capital raising while it defends against criminal charges related to the controversial share placement.
The former chief financial officer of a unit of collapsed Gold Coast finance company Octaviar Investments is facing fraud charges for allegedly misappropriating more than $4.6 million in company funds for his personal use.
An investor who successfully objected to an initial settlement of four class actions over the failed Willmott Forests managed investment scheme lost a bid to have his legal costs paid by the defendants, with a judge saying the objections were not the primary basis for his refusal to sign off on the agreement.