Two Westpac units have been hit with $10.5 million in fines for providing personal financial advice during a superannuation rollover campaign, with a barrister for ASIC noting the bank had not apologised or expressed regret for the conduct.
A judge has criticised the liquidators of collapsed financial group Linchpin Capital after they failed to inform the court whether they intend to defend class action proceedings or if default judgment should be made against the company.
A judge has blasted an ex-Linchpin director’s delay in appealing a five-year disqualification ordered by ASIC and threatened to dismiss the appeal after he failed to comply with court orders.
US-based chemical and materials technology company Cytec Industries has won its Federal Court challenge to a mining patent application by a unit of Ecolab, with the court finding the claims in the patent lacked support and sufficient disclosure.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission is investigating whether new legislation is needed to address the impact of dominant digital platforms such as Google and Apple, as the regulator’s overseas counterparts usher in bills aimed at cracking down on anticompetitive behaviour.
The banks and high-ranking executives targeted in pared-down criminal cartel proceedings over a $2.5 billion ANZ share placement are taking new steps to shut down the long-running case, including further probes into the ACCC’s conduct during its investigation into the alleged cartel.
The former auditors of stockbroker Halifax Investment Services, whose 2008 collapse left around $200 million in client funds trapped, have been hit with $50,000 in fines for auditing breaches that resulted in the company continuing to trade while being prima facie insolvent.
Fintech software solutions company IOUPay has been granted relief from the court after issuing 20 million shares without lodging a cleansing notice with the Australian Securities Exchange.
Prosecutors have withdrawn two-thirds of the charges in a criminal cartel case over a $2.5 billion ANZ share placement and have dropped their case against former Citigroup CEO Stephen Roberts, according to a lawyer in the case.
Criminal cartel charges against the CFMEU and its ACT branch secretary have been dropped amid concerns about witnesses’ ability to recall the events at the centre of the case, two months after witness credibility concerns led to a stinging defeat for the ACCC in the Country Care criminal cartel trial.