A judge has sent insolvency firm Ferrier Hodgson back to the drawing board to redraft its pleadings against the former directors and auditors of collapsed construction company Forge Group, warning that the overlapping actions were at risk of becoming an “unrideable bull”.
Law firm Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan will push forward with an investor class action against failed engineering company RCR Tomlinson on its own, with two firms driving competing actions agreeing to step down after a judge forcibly consolidated all three proceedings.
The applicants in the Iluka Resources shareholder class action have less than a week to lock-in a $1.25 million security for costs, after the judge overseeing the case asked if he was allowed to dismiss proceedings himself following six months of being “very patient” about ongoing funding dramas.
Insurance company Allianz Australia will need set aside an extra $250 million in capital until it strengthens its risk management, making it the fifth financial institution to be slapped with additional requirements by the prudential regulator.
Global car rental company Europcar has been ordered to pay $350,000 in penalties, after admitting it charged more than 60,0000 customers excessive fees on Visa and Mastercard transactions.
A contempt of court prosecution ordered against Google for failing to immediately remove allegedly defamatory online reviews has been thrown out, with a judge saying the internet giant did not act in reckless or negligent disregard of the court’s removal orders.
A trailblazing country lawyer who took out seven overdraft extensions to self-fund a landmark $100 million case in the early years of the federal class action regime has stepped back into the ring to run a new case on behalf of dozens of Australian farmers.
Westpac has defeated a responsible lending case brought by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission in relation to almost 262,000 home loans, with the Federal Court finding the corporate regulator misinterpreted the operation of national lending laws.
A judge has refused to join the insurer of collapsed Sydney builder Reed Constructions to insolvent trading proceedings brought by the company’s liquidators, after finding it was unreasonable to expect the insurance company to irrevocably confirm coverage.
ASIC has abandoned its market manipulation case against National Australia Bank contractor Whitebox Trading, just over a month after the financial regulator decided to appeal the Federal Court’s primary decision to throw out their case.