Commonwealth Bank units CommSec and Australian Investments Exchange have been ordered to pay more than $27 million for “serious and unacceptable” system failures that led to excessive fee charges for customers.
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission has suffered a defeat in proceedings alleging the Commonwealth Bank of Australia accepted conflicted remuneration through the sale of its Essential Super product, with a judge finding the regulator “ignored the circumstances” in which the product was distributed.
The applicant in an investor class action against Virgin Australia plans to appeal a judge’s decision requiring litigation funder Balance Legal Capital UK to give the airline an indemnity in order to bring the proceedings, saying the indemnity “substantially changes the risk calculus” for group members.
A judge has ruled that a litigation funder for an investor class action against Virgin must give the airline an indemnity to bring proceedings despite finding a deed of company arrangement requiring the pay-out “didn’t make sense”.
Virgin Airlines has argued a litigation funder’s indemnity for its legal costs is not enough for it to bring a class action on behalf of bond holders over a 2019 prospectus, claiming the airline expects to spend more than $5 million defending the proceedings.
Commonwealth Bank unit CommSec has agreed to pay a $20 million penalty for a series of “serious and unacceptable” failures that lead to excessive fee charges, a court has heard.
A fine imposed against the Commonwealth Bank for false and misleading representations to customers should reflect offences that were “well below the midpoint” of seriousness, counsel for the bank has told a judge overseeing the first criminal case of its kind.
The Federal Court has slugged wealth management firm Colonial First State Investments with a $20 million penalty for misleading almost 13,000 superannuation members about their MySuper entitlements through a “concerted campaign” that lasted two years.
A judge has refused to order Commonwealth Bank of Australia to publish notice of a $7 million penalty in a case brought by ASIC on its mobile app, but the bank will have to alert customers to its misconduct on its website and online newsroom.
A judge weighing a dispute between ASIC and the Commonwealth Bank over whether notice of a $7 million penalty should be sent out through the bank’s Commbank app has questioned the usefulness of adverse publicity notices and whether they should be ditched for higher pecuniary penalties in the future.