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Three words missing from a demand letter have sunken oil and gas producer Santos Limited’s appeal of a loss in its dispute with French bank BNP Paribas over a $55 million bank guarantee.
Royal Commission tells ASIC it’s time to litigate
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Companies that run afoul of the law should brace for more courtroom battles against ASIC, after the Hayne Royal Commission urged the corporate regulator to make litigation a central pillar of its enforcement strategy.
Hayne recommends criminal charges against at least two entities, but doesn’t name names
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Banking royal commissioner Kenneth Hayne has recommended at least two unnamed entities face criminal charges for dishonest conduct connected to their fees for no service practices, an offence that carries a maximum penalty of 10 years’ jail or a hefty fine, or both.
Common fund orders in class actions either ‘premature’ or ‘pointless’, joint appeals court told
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An appeal before a historic joint sitting of two courts over so-called common fund orders in class actions kicked off Monday with a full bench of six judges and a packed courtroom hearing arguments by eminent barristers for BMW and Westpac that the orders are either preemptive or pointless.
Deloitte continues fight to keep Hastie files secret after claiming partner made off with them
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Deloitte is challenging a judge’s ruling that certain partners not be excused from an order to produce files of the accounting giant’s audit work for Hastie Group to shareholders in a class action over the construction company’s collapse, its latest move after a failed attempt to persuade the judge that a rogue partner had taken the only copies of the files and refused to give them back.
ASIC bans Commonwealth Bank from charging ongoing service fee
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The Australian Securities and Investments Commission has ordered Commonwealth Bank to immediately stop charging customers service fees, after the bank violated the terms of an enforceable undertaking related to its fees for no service conduct.
Barristers suing DLA Piper over $370,000 in fees did not do all the work, court told
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Two barristers suing DLA Piper over $370,000 in fees did not perform all the work for which they billed the law firm, a court heard Monday.
Boutique firm Phi Finney McDonald ’eminently qualified’ to run BHP class action, experts say
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Class action experts have come to the defence of boutique law firm Phi Finney McDonald as heavyweight Maurice Blackburn appeals a judge’s ruling to choose the “less experienced” firm to lead a shareholder class action against BHP Billiton.
Judge slams ‘extremely unhelpful’ Qantas defence in underpayment case
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A judge has taken Qantas to task over its defence in a Fair Work case brought by the Australian Licenced Aircraft Engineers Association union over alleged underpayments to LA-based mechanics, calling the document “extremely unhelpful”.
It’s the vibe of the thing: all eyes on constitutional challenge to common fund orders
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An unprecedented joint-sitting of two appeals courts will this week hear a constitutional challenge to the power of judges to make so-called common fund orders, a challenge that could have significant ramifications for class actions even if they don’t fall foul of the ‘vibe of the thing’.