ANZ has rubbished arguments from a competitor and the ACCC that its merger with Suncorp’s banking arm will reduce competition and hurt consumers, saying the watchdog had been asked to believe a “distorted and selective view” of the proposal.
On the first day of trial in parallel class actions and regulatory proceedings, the Fair Work Ombudsman panned the payment systems adopted by Woolworths and Coles for salaried managers, saying they were “entirely foreign” to the industrial award and that the supermarket giants had “no meaningful proper records” for overtime.
The ABC acted with malice when it aired Brittany Higgins’ defamatory National Press Club speech in full, and the broadcaster’s public interest defence won’t save it, accused rapist Bruce Lehrmann has said.
It was “fundamentally wrong” that AMP Financial Planning paid consultant PricewaterhouseCoopers significantly more to review a court-ordered remediation than was paid to customers who suffered loss after an adviser churned life insurance policies for higher commissions, a judge has said.
Westpac, Macquarie and ANZ are seeking class closure orders ahead of mediation in three class actions over flexible commissions schemes, telling a court hearing they will be “completely at sea” without a better idea of the class size.
Apple can argue an Australian non-practicing entity that claims its patents for a remote entry system were infringed by the tech company’s Touch ID and Face ID technology are invalid because of a Hewlett Packard handheld device that was first sold in 2000.
SMBC has been cleared to add more claims to its $34 million suit against Humm Group after the fintech’s subsidiary allegedly misled the Japanese bank about worthless receivables under contracts said to be forged by a Forum Group entity.
Former SAS corporal Ben Roberts-Smith has lost his defamation case against Nine-owned Fairfax, with a judge finding Thursday it was true that Australia’s most decorated soldier committed civilian murders in Afghanistan.
With truth on its side, Nine’s defeat of soldier Ben Roberts-Smith’s lawsuit was a huge win for investigative journalism in Australia, but while it might make lawyers blink before bringing defamation cases, the victory is not a game-changer, experts say.
BHP has admitted it underpaid mine workers $430 million for over a decade by improperly deducting leave for public holidays.