Companies

Cladding manufacturer Fairview Architectural may have $190 million in insurance to cover the claims in a class action over its allegedly combustible cladding products.

Trial in the defamation case by war veteran Ben Roberts-Smith against Nine may face additional delays or be transferred out of Sydney after the NSW Government extended the city's COVID-19 restrictions by two weeks.

ASIC’s case accusing Westpac of insider trading before the $16 billion privatisation of electricity provider Ausgrid should be heard “as quickly as the court can deal with it”, a judge has said.

Japanese bankng giant SMBC has emerged as the latest lender with exposure to an alleged fraud carried out by Sydney-based Forum Finance, with proceedings filed seeking recovery of almost $99 million it says it paid to a unit of Forum Group and controversial director Bill Papas.

A senior partner at Jones Day and member of the advisory committee to the Australian Law Reform Commission has been appointed Westpac’s new group general counsel.

ASIC is seeking $1.5 million in penalties against insurers Allianz and AWP after they admitted to misleading or deceiving the public by selling travel insurance to ineligible customers through three Expedia-owned websites.

Media companies seeking access to the ABC’s unredacted defence in a now-settled defamation case brought by Christian Porter told a judge the principle of open justice required that the pleading be made public, while the former attorney-general argued there was no “superior” public interest in airing the document.

The Federal Court has ordered the winding up of Forum Finance, which has been accused by Westpac and French investment bank Societe Generale of a $263 million fraud, as details of the company's jetsetting director's planned return to Australia from Europe remain murky.

A judge has approved a $50 million settlement in a shareholder class action against failed training company Vocation and auditor PricewaterhouseCoopers, but questioned whether the $10.9 million commission and $12.75 million legal bill could have been "materially lower" had the case been run by one funder and firm instead of two.

Retail tech and dating start-up Instagoods has appealed a successful challenge of its Instadate trade mark registration by social media giant Instagram.