Judgments in two appeals challenging the legality of common fund orders issued by courts in class actions will be handed down this week, and the rulings could have a profound effect on how class actions are run by lawyers and their funders in the future.
The ACCC his hinted at what could be a record year for competition matters, with ACCC Chairman Rod Sims vowing to refer more cartel investigations for criminal prosecution and promising cases against banks and construction companies are on the horizon.
Pitcher Partners just found another reason to challenge a ruling that it owes $5.6 million in damages for concealing an accounting error from a client — a ruling that socks it with $3.3 million in legal costs for its “deceit”.
The Commonwealth Bank of Australia wants a judge to ensure it doesn’t get hit with double the cost for work defending two shareholder class actions brought by rival plaintiffs law firms.
A judge has denied law firm Piper Alderman’s request to replace an uncooperative expert witness in a class action against KPMG over a failed takeover offer, three weeks before the matter goes to trial.
Westpac has been hit with a class action for allegedly breaching responsible lending laws by providing unsuitable loans, the first of the big four banks to face a class action in the wake of the banking royal commission’s scathing final report.
ASIC has wasted no time in the wake of a critical report from the banking royal commission, reporting a 50 percent spike in investigations into financial services companies since the beginning of the month and promising a number of criminal referrals are on the horizon.
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission has appealed a ruling that two Westpac units did not provide personal financial advice as part of a campaign encouraging customers to roll over external superannuation accounts.
A judge’s decision to halt questioning about ASIC emails in a class action trial over the 2008 collapse of finance group Octaviar didn’t shut the case down, the Public Trustee of Queensland has told the Full Federal Court, calling the appeal of the class action’s dismissal “completely misconceived”.
ASIC will soon have more ammunition to go after corporate wrongdoers, after the Senate passed legislation that arms the regulator to seek harsher civil and criminal sanctions against banks, their executives and others that breach the corporate and financial services law.