Group members in the Fitch Ratings class action have recovered almost 95 per cent of their losses in a $27 million settlement, which was narrowly approved after a judge scolded the parties for a lack of clarity around the mediation and opt-out process.
The judge overseeing seven class actions against car makers over defective Takata airbags has shot down the applicants’ opposition to a soft class closure order in advance of mediation, saying the cases would not be a “mystery tour” from here on out.
Collapsed engineering and construction company Forge Group has agreed to settle a shareholder class action over alleged continuous disclosure breaches, which will see the funder pocket about $7.5 million.
Mineral sands producer Iluka Resources is threatening a dismissal bid in a shareholder class action it has spent $2 million fighting over the past year, amid concerns proposed security could be inadequate and the applicant has still to finalise an agreement with a litigation funder.
The lead applicant in a class action against Radio Rentals wants access to correspondence relating to the appliance leasing company’s insurance coverage with AIG Australia, saying the documents might contain admissions relevant to its case over the company’s allegedly misleading ‘Rent, Try, $1 Buy’ program.
Construction giant Lendlease faces a second shareholder class action over market disclosures relating to its underperforming engineering division, and joining the case is one of the biggest public pension funds in the US.
The settlement of the Discovery Metals investor class action against KPMG has experienced another setback, after scheme administrator Grant Thornton flagged a potential conflict of interest in acting as a costs contradictor over Piper Alderman’s controversial $3.5 million legal bill.
Group members in a recently settled class action against Westpac unit BankSA over its conduct in connection with convicted Ponzi schemer Michael Samra are expected to get 40 per cent of the confidential settlement, a result a judge said wasn’t as bad as he might have feared.
An application by the former boss of Sirtex Medical for a sentencing date in the insider trading case against him has raised the ire of a NSW District Court judge, who called the bid premature and an attempt to jump the queue.
Fitch Ratings has agreed to settle the last of the investor class actions in Australia flowing from the global financial crisis, a court heard Friday.