Securities

The corporate regulator has delivered a scathing report on exchange operator ASX, finding it has significantly under-invested in technology in favour of delivering short-term dividends to shareholders.

Boral wants a judge to wait until the High Court delivers a judgment in cases against CBA before issuing his decision in shareholder class actions against the building materials giant. But the applicant says the court can’t wait for “perfect clarification” of the law.

The Commonwealth Bank has avoided a separate hearing over its cross-appeal in shareholder class actions that have reached the High Court.

The Australasian Centre for Corporate Responsibility has appealed the dismissal of its greenwashing case alleging Santos misled investors by falsely representing that it had a plausible path to net zero by 2040.

A court has ordered Macquarie Securities to pay an agreed $35 million penalty after finding that “serious deficiencies" in its reporting systems resulted in repeated failures to accurately report short sales.

A judge has approved a settlement with KPMG in a shareholder class action over the collapse of mining company CuDeco, as well as a distribution scheme that will see payments to the funder but not group members.

A judge has granted the first-ever application to vary a contingency fee in a class action that has yet to reach settlement or judgment, but has warned his decision doesn't set a precedent for “routine variation” of group costs orders. 

A judge has awarded private equity firm CPE Capital, formerly CHAMP, $96 million in a dispute over a profit sharing agreement that was part of a deal to provide $150 million in vendor finance to FX Group Holdings for shares in trading platform Pepperstone.

A judge has approved a $13.5 million settlement in a class action against the director of collapsed sandalwood producer Quintis, but has reduced deductions sought by the plaintiff's lawyers and funder, and denied a payout to the funder of a competing case.

A judge has struck out sections of natural gas exporter Australia Pacific LNG’s defence in Tri-Star’s long-running case over coal seam gas fields in Queensland, which centres on a $7.6 billion share sale to ConocoPhillips.