Treasurer Josh Frydenberg has indicated the government may oppose GetSwift’s bid to relocate to Canada while it’s facing a $50 million shareholder class action and ASIC enforcement proceedings, a move which a judge recently described as “not a good look”.
A judge has said she was “currently minded” to sign off on a scheme of arrangement that would see last-mile logistics software firm GetSwift relocate to Canada, but has sought further submissions on whether any Australian civil penalties sought against the company by ASIC would be enforceable in the Canadian courts.
A judge said Friday that a bid by last-mile logistics software firm GetSwift to relocate to Canada as it faces a potential $20 million civil penalty from ASIC and a $50 million class action was “not a good look”.
Last-mile logistics software firm GetSwift has offered a last minute undertaking that it will be covered for any judgments and penalties in a class action and ASIC case, after a judge expressed concerns about the company’s bid to redomicile to Canada amid the ongoing litigation.
That a first filed case should be the presumptive winner in a competition between class actions seemed a losing argument before the High Court on Tuesday as the justices weighed a challenge to a ruling picking one among a group of class actions against AMP, but the court also appeared skeptical of the power to hold wide ranging inquiries into the merits of competing cases.
The eyes of class action lawyers will be on the High Court Tuesday as it hears arguments over a judge’s power to choose a single class action among competing proceedings and what, if anything, should be made of a case’s funding structure and likely returns to group members when picking a winner.
ASIC and the applicant in a class action against GetSwift have intervened in an application by the logistics provider to relocate its headquarters to Canada, aiming to ensure shareholders are aware of the potential outcomes of the regulator’s enforcement action, which include banning orders against directors Bane Hunter and Joel Macdonald.
GetSwift is keeping up its fight to have the judge overseeing a shareholder class action disqualify himself from the proceedings after overseeing the trial in the corporate regulator’s case against the logistics provider.
GetSwift has promised the Federal Court that it will inform the lead applicant in a shareholder class action if any of its assets are to be transferred outside of Australia, after the applicant raised concerns about the logistics company’s proposed relocation to Canada.
The judge overseeing a class action against GetSwift has refused to disqualify himself from the proceedings, rejecting claims that he could not be seen to approach the case with an “impartial mind” and taking a passing shot at the logistics company’s use of the Americanism “recuse” in its application.