The Queensland government has signed off on ANZ’s proposed $4.9 billion merger with Suncorp’s banking arm, after the company agreed to remain headquartered in Brisbane as a dedicated insurance company.
A judge overseeing a superannuation class action against two Westpac units that settled for $30 million has flagged the possibility of appointing a contradictor to examine the litigation funder’s claimed cut of the settlement, which includes a deduction of over $1 million to cover the costs of after-the-event insurance.
Sunshine Loans has lost its bid to have the Full Court weigh in on ASIC’s authority to seek penalties for Credit Code violations, in proceedings accusing the online lender of charging over $320,000 in prohibited fees.
The High Court has rejected an appeal by a mortgage broker in a saga stretching back a decade, when the corporate regulator imposed a lifelong ban against the broker for failing to disclose a conviction on his credit licence application.
Armaguard and rival Prosegur have secured authorisation for their proposed merger from the ACCC, which has found the likely reduction in competition in the cash transport industry was outweighed by the public benefits of the transaction.
Wealth management firm Colonial First State has lost its bid to shield emails with internal counsel about investment options for its FirstChoice super fund after a judge found a class action applicant had joint legal professional privilege.
A former PricewaterhouseCoopers client who is suing the accounting firm over the $88 million sale of wholesale food company Hudson Pacific to Retail Food Group in 2016 has agreed to keep a Melbourne property off the market, but the company has not ruled out a bid for security for costs.
Commonwealth Bank of Australia has copped a record $3.55 million penalty for breaching spam laws after it sent more than 65 million emails without an easy way for individuals to unsubscribe.
ANZ has rubbished arguments from a competitor and the ACCC that its merger with Suncorp’s banking arm will reduce competition and hurt consumers, saying the watchdog had been asked to believe a “distorted and selective view” of the proposal.
NAB has told a court it should pay a $2 million penalty — not the $10 million proposed by ASIC — for engaging in unconscionable conduct by overcharging customers, saying the exact words used in the regulator’s concise statement accuse it only of a single contravention.