The score in shareholder class actions taken to trial now stands at a dismal 0-5 after a judge tossed class actions against the Commonwealth Bank of Australia on Friday. But don’t expect funders to throw in the towel until the High Court or an intermediate appellate authority has its say, experts told Lawyerly.
Two class actions have failed to convince a judge that the Commonwealth Bank of Australia’s money laundering compliance failure which led to a $700 million penalty was “law breaking on a grand scale” that should have been disclosed to the market, the latest shareholder case to flop after being taken to trial.
Investment bank JP Morgan Securities has been fined $775,000 by the corporate cop after it failed to interrogate a number of unusual orders on wheat futures that should have raised red flags.
The funder of a class action by financial advisers against AMP is seeking a $28.5 million profit from a $100 million settlement, a hefty payout that has prompted the appointment of a contradictor but may survive the scrutiny in light of a recent appeals court decision.
A class action against failed asset finance lender Axsesstoday and auditor PricewaterhouseCoopers has reached an in-principle settlement with the lender’s insurers.
A court has found Qoin cryptocurrency issuer BPS Financial made false and misleading claims about its product, in a win for the corporate regulator and a likely boost for a class action against the Gold Coast-based digital currency company.
A judge has questioned the “independent skill and judgment” applied to the pleading in a third class action filed against International Capital Markets over risky derivative products, amid a “hot contest as to carriage and forum”.
Concerned that First Nations customers are being targeted, the corporate regulator has ordered the owner of the Urban Rampage clothing chain to end Centrepay credit facilities.
AMP has lost its bid for soft class closure in a class action over allegedly excessive superannuation fees, with a judge finding the court should exercise “real caution” when class closure is opposed by the applicant.
A judge has appointed a contradictor for an upcoming settlement approval hearing in a class action by financial advisers against AMP over its buyer of last resort policy, saying the funder was taking a “very large” cut of the $100 million settlement.