The competition regulator has cleared the way for Australian retail giant Wesfarmers to acquire online retailer Catch Group for $230 million, after finding the acquisition would be unlikely to impact competition in online marketplaces.
The judge overseeing three competing shareholder class actions brought against RCR Tomlinson has refused to entertain a beauty contest, instead deciding to consolidate the proceedings whether the parties “agree or not”.
Notwithstanding a recent increase in competing shareholder class actions, on the whole, competing class actions have remained unusual, and courts have demonstrated that they are well equipped to apply appropriate considerations and principles on a case by case basis, employing a range of case management tools to ensure justice is done without the need for legislative intervention, writes Slater & Gordon class action associate Victoria Sparks.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has appealed a Federal Court ruling that found Woolworths’ environmental claims for its line of compostable plates, bowls and cutlery were accurate, not false and misleading.
A judge on Friday asked the corporate regulator why it delayed action against former Murray Goulburn managing director Gary Helou and CFO Bradley Hingle until two years’ after the consumer watchdog brought its case against the pair.
The Fair Work Ombudsman has dropped its contempt of court case against the owner of a Cairns tour company after an appeals court set aside the tour operator’s conviction and panned the sentencing judge for his “egregious” conduct.
The ABC and Fairfax have lost their appeal seeking to revive a truth defense in a defamation case brought by Chinese businessman Dr Chau Chak Wing over a Four Corners program accusing him of espionage and links to the Chinese Communist Party.
The applicants in the Radio Rentals class action have won access to the company’s excess layer insurance policies, amid concerns that group members’ losses from the allegedly misleading ‘Rent, Try, $1 Buy’ program could surpass $100 million.
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation, which is fighting the legality of a police raid on its Sydney headquarters, has urged the Federal Court to order the Australian Federal Police to hand over a document it produced as rationale for obtaining a search warrant.
While the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has set out to rein in the market power of Google and Facebook, the sweeping proposals in the regulator’s final digital platforms report would affect a large number of businesses and could have a detrimental effect on smaller companies and innovation, lawyers say.
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