The federal government has cut the budget for the Australian Securities and Investments Commission by $62.7 million in tandem with the regulator’s corporate registry being shifted to the ATO, but a legal expert told Lawyerly the cut could also signal a movement away from the “why not litigate” approach adopted in the wake of the banking royal commission.
ASIC has taken a leaf out of the playbook of Australia’s courts in granting litigation funders temporary relief from having to disclose certain sensitive financial information in their product disclosure statements.
HWL Ebsworth has been ordered to hand over file notes to a former client and whistleblower suing ANZ for unfair dismissal, with a judge rejecting the law firm’s argument that the notes were created solely for the benefit of the junior solicitor taking them.
Superannuation provider Statewide Super has announced that it will not defend civil penalty proceedings brought by ASIC over an administrative error which resulted in around 12,500 fund members being charged for non-existent insurance.
Westpac has been accused by the corporate regulator of insider trading before the $16 billion privatisation of electricity provider Ausgrid.
ASIC has won a $20 million judgment against derivative trader Forex CT for using “unfair” sales tactics and misleading clients into making trades from which the company would benefit even when they had informed their adviser they had limited financial resources.
UK-based Woodsford Litigation Funding has become the first overseas funder authorised to finance Australian class actions under recent laws cracking down on the litigation funding industry.
A Herbert Smith Freehills lawyer and former Deutsche Bank general counsel who previously led ASIC’s litigation and enforcement team has been appointed to replace the corporate regulator’s outgoing chair James Shipton.
The Commonwealth Bank of Australia is resisting a novel proposal by ASIC to use its CommBank app to notify 6.3 million customers of a $7 million fine against it for overcharging interest, saying the move would pose a “significant risk” to the public.
The trustee of Mayfair Group’s collapsed IPO Wealth Fund has denied claims in a class action that it misled investors who lost $86 million when the fund was wound up, and says it is fully indemnified for the class action’s claims under an agreement with the fund.