S&P has reached a settlement in a case by two Cayman Island companies over alleged defective ratings but a class action won’t settle until “hell freezes over,” a court has heard.
ASIC has told a court that a PwC report into allegations of inaccurate coal pricing found that 12 “inconsistent” invoices issued by TerraCom resulted in a $1.15 million benefit to the company, contrary to the company’s claim that the audit found no wrongdoing.
Penalty proceedings in ASIC’s case against coal producer TerraCom have been put on ice until the regulator’s suit against the company’s directors goes to trial.
The judge hearing the ACCC’s price-fixing case against Downer EDI’s Spotless and Ventia has proposed an initial hearing to determine if the companies are in competition, saying he won’t let the case become “totally unwieldy”.
Cladding maker 3A Composites has lost its bid to set aside a cross-claim in a suit against the builder of the Tempo residential towers in Botany Bay over allegedly flammable aluminium composite panels.
Coal producer TerraCom has agreed to pay $7.5 million to resolve ASIC proceedings alleging it made misleading statement to the market that damaged a whistleblower’s reputation.
In the ACCC’s price-fixing case, infrastructure services company Ventia has joined with Spotless in arguing the companies were not in competition, and says it was the Department of Defence that arranged for the providers to talk.
The High Court has rejected a special leave application by wealth guru Dominque Grubisa seeking to overturn a finding that she had actual knowledge that statements made by her company DG Institute to students who enrolled in her courses were misleading.
Downer EDI subsidiary Spotless has rejected allegations it engaged in price-fixing with Ventia on defence contracts, saying the facilities services companies were not in competition with each other.
The ACCC has won court approval to bring claims against two companies in liquidation alleging they engaged in unconscionable and misleading conduct in the sale of printing cartridges and cleaning chemicals.