The approval of a settlement between the liquidators of failed fund manager Equititrust and auditor KPMG has been postponed to allow time to notify creditors and unitholders that they won’t see a cent, an outcome the judge called “a long way from litigation in any traditional sense”.
Ernst & Young, which has been named in a class action over its auditing of sandalwood producer Quintis, has filed cross-claims alleging Quintis should pick up the tab for any liability it may face in the proceedings.
Failed sandalwood oil producer Quintis has agreed to hand over insurance policies showing any coverage for potential liability it or its former CEO may have in two class actions brought against them.
Former executives of wealth manager IOOF facing disqualification proceedings by the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority have criticised the prudential regulator for a late and extensive discovery request, saying it could “imperil” the July trial date.
A Queensland Supreme Court judge has given the green light for a $30 million settlement of a liquidator’s case against failed financial services firm LM Investment Management, saying the result was appropriate and “a matter of some public interest”.
US hedge fund Oaktree Capital has placed fund manager Blue Sky Alternative Investments into receivership, following a tumultuous period marked by the loss of senior executives and three shareholder class action investigations amid concerns about the company’s method for valuing its assets under management.
Former IOOF chairman George Venardos will be allowed to object to incriminating evidence and discovery in proceedings brought by APRA, after a court found there was a real and appreciable risk that ASIC could also bring a civil case against him.
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission has dropped its probe into Blue Sky over possible violations of its continuous disclosure obligations, but the fund manager still faces three active shareholder class action investigations.
APRA has been ordered to hand over all of its correspondence with fellow regulator ASIC relating to former IOOF chairman George Venardos, as he prepares to argue privilege over discovery that might incriminate him in any possible ASIC proceedings.
Private construction company Hutchinson Builders has resolved a lawsuit it brought against the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission seeking to quash what it called an invalid notice to produce documents to the regulator, which has vowed to bring cases against the construction industry this year.