Justice David O’Callaghan

A judge has expressed concern about the Australian Securities and Investments Commission’s suspicion that a former director of Keystone Asset Management may have used investor funds to purchase a house in his wife’s name, calling it “alarming”.

ASIC has secured freezing orders over the assets of an investment fund managed by Keystone Asset Management, with a court also ordering a Keystone director to surrender his passport amid an investigation by the corporate regulator. 

Trial in ASIC’s action accusing former Dixon Advisory director Paul Ryan of breaching his duties began Monday, a case that puts the spotlight on legal advice over a deed that affected the wealth management firm’s capacity to recoup a $19 million debt on the eve of its collapse.

The corporate regulator is on a winning streak in its greenwashing cases, with a judge rejecting Active Super’s attempt to qualify its “unequivocal” statements about limiting its investment in companies connected to gambling and coal mining.

A homophobic tweet by former NSW One Nation leader Mark Latham unleashed an “utterly hateful torrent of abuse and vitriol”, including death threats against Independent Sydney MP Alex Greenwich, which left him fearing for his safety, a court has heard. 

Counsel for independent Sydney member Alex Greenwich has raised concerns about livestreaming the trial in his defamation case against former NSW One Nation leader Mark Latham after witnessing the “astonishing” and “very disturbing” social media commentary during the Bruce Lehrmann trial.

The Full Court has clarified that a prior bad reputation is relevant to determining whether a defamation plaintiff has suffered serious harm, tossing an appeal by a Sydney lawyer who lost her case over an article related to her conviction for an alleged $16,000 scam at David Jones, which was later overturned.

Dental aligner maker Invisalign has won an appeal of a decision rejecting its case accusing SmileDirectClub of misleading consumers, but the appeals court noted that the prospect of a new trial was “remote” after its competitor went under.

A judge has rejected Aussie Broadband’s bid to restrain internet service provider Superloop from acting on a sell order issued last month, calling the argument that Superloop issued the order for an improper purpose “a very weak” one. 

Fortrend Securities is amending its $28 million lawsuit against rival Shaw & Partners and two former advisors accused of scheming to solicit customers, adding a claim that a client list was produced and then destroyed after legal action was foreshadowed.