Investors in collapsed stockbroker Halifax Investment Services have failed to overturn decisions in Australia and New Zealand relating to the date of realisation of their investments which have decreased the amount they can recover in the company’s liquidation.
Payouts in class actions in 2020 largely kept pace with the previous year despite the financial strain of the COVID-19 pandemic, with companies and other defendants paying more than $696 million to settle class actions last year.
The NSW Court of Appeal has passed on the question of whether a judge can make a common fund order when a class action settles to ensure a certain return to litigation funders, but the issue is not going away, whatever the Federal Court’s decision in a parallel case.
Luxury car maker BMW has told the NSW Court of Appeal that the courts do not have power to make common fund orders at any stage of a group proceeding, arguing that such orders would distort the scope of the class action regime by encouraging litigation funders to pursue lawsuits.
A judge has approved a $7 million settlement in a class action against the directors of pharmaceutical company QRxPharma, only a third of which will go to group members, saying proportionality was not a basis for rejecting fees that were otherwise fair and reasonable.
The funder backing a shareholder class action against the directors of pharmaceutical firm QRxPharma will not seek to profit from a $7 million settlement in order to bring about a better return for group members, a judge has been told.
Common fund orders are again under scrutiny in a class action which was at the centre of the High Court’s decision to strike down the orders, with a NSW Supreme Court judge sending back to the appeals court the question of whether the orders can be made at settlement.
Elderly victims of Ponzi schemer Bradley Sherwin have told the government’s class action inquiry of their “horrendous class action journey”, which led to a “pathetic outcome” in which the majority of a $12 million settlement with the Bank of Queensland went to the law firm and funder behind the case.
A referee has been appointed to examine the fees for the liquidators of stockbroker Halifax Investment Services, which collapsed in December 2018, trapping around $200 million in client funds.
Seven car makers defending class actions over defective Takata airbags have confirmed they will not be challenging a landmark decision that set aside a pre-settlement class closure order in the cases.