The former directors of troubled fund manager IOOF have slammed APRA for bringing a “truly hopeless” disqualification case against them, telling a court the prudential regulator’s “Stalinist” approach was deterring “good people and good companies” from participating in the superannuation industry.
APRA has been accused of harbouring an “unhinged hatred” for former IOOF managing director Chris Kelaher by his counsel, who was objecting to internal APRA documents he claims were disparaging of the wealth management company and its executives.
A judge has refused to grant an injunction stopping the appointment of receivers to Australian cloud-based superannuation fund manager SMSF Squirrel Ltd, describing the company’s financial position as “precarious” and likely to worsen beyond its current liabilities of $7.8 million.
A former Commonwealth Bank executive facing criminal commercial bribery charges has been ordered to hand over a number of documents in a US lawsuit brought by IT company Computer Sciences Corporation, but has avoided orders compelling him to take the witness stand.
The prudential regulator has opened the first day of its case against IOOF directors and entities by claiming the wealth manager’s liability is “plain as a pike staff”, as IOOF contends the regulator’s case is “artificial and theoretical” and “overly simplistic”.
Slater & Gordon has struck back against allegations by a former senior solicitor that he was fired after making complaints about the law firm’s arrangement with a third-party funder for personal injury clients, denying any unethical practices and arguing the lawyer’s termination was part of a cost-cutting restructure.
Poppy processor Palla Pharma has agreed to pay $1.125 million to rival Tasmanian Alkaloids t0 settle a lawsuit alleging infringement of two innovation patents for high codeine-concentrated poppy.
An appeals court has dismissed a third attempt by directors of mortgage aggregator Connective Group to stifle a shareholder’s derivative lawsuit over a restructure that allowed the sale of 25 per cent of its business to Macquarie Bank.
Facing cross claims by Pitcher Partners in two shareholder class actions alleging the accounting firm wrongly signed off on Slater & Gordon’s financial reports ahead of a share price nosedive, the law firm and its ex-directors say they relied on the auditor to ensure the veracity of the statements.
Maurice Blackburn has hit back at a lawsuit by State Street Global Advisors over the law firm’s use of a replica of its Fearless Girl statue, denying it has infringed the asset manager’s intellectual property.