Personal lender ClearLoans and its parent company have agreed to pay penalties of just over $6 million to settle the first COVID-19 related case brought by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission.
The sole director of personal lender ClearLoans has agreed to settle the first case the Australian Securities and Investments Commission brought related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Personal lender ClearLoans has lost its bid to strike out claims in ASIC’s first case related to the COVID-19 pandemic after a judge found the regulator’s action, which accuses the lender of breaching the hardship provisions of the credit laws, was “sufficiently clear”.
The judge overseeing ASIC’s first COVID-19-related case has criticised personal lender ClearLoans’ delay in responding to the case, saying a change in the company’s legal representation was not an excuse for defaulting on court orders.
A judge has ordered ASIC to provide more detail in its case accusing personal lender ClearLoans of contravening the hardship provisions of the credit laws, in the regulator’s first case related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
A ruling Wednesday that struck down class closure orders — a device used by judges in class actions for the past two decades — has split the courts in Australia and is expected to head to the High Court.