Companies

A court has thrown out a breach of contract claim brought by two subsidiaries of property developer Minster Group against National Australia Bank, but found the bank must face a $1.2 million unconscionability claim over allegedly excessive fees.

National Australia Bank is setting aside a further $1.18 billion to compensate customers for dodgy adviser service fees, consumer credit insurance sales, and non-compliant advice.

A judge has given the thumbs up to AMP's new program to identify and compensate victims of so-called insurance churning by its financial planning arm after inadequacies were revealed in the original scheme.

Wyeth has lost a bid to claim legal professional privilege over certain documents sought by Merck Sharp & Dohme as the two rivals head towards a hearing for the reopening of the Prevnar 13 patent case.

The judge overseeing the Ethicon pelvic mesh class action has flagged serious public policy concerns stemming from class identification problems, amid fears that “poorer” patients in the public health system would be less likely to be notified of their rights compared to those in the private system.

A former Ernst & Young principal jailed for at least nine years for his role in a $135 million tax fraud has lost a challenge to two NSW Supreme Court orders barring access to $150 million worth of assets.

An investigation by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has come under fire by the banks and directors targeted in a criminal case over alleged cartel conduct that claim the regulator "contaminated" key evidence and improperly used material supplied by ASIC.

IOOF subsidiary Australian Executor Trustees has been hit with an $80.6 million judgment after breaching its duty as trustee in the sale of a 42,000 hectare timber plantation by collapsed forestry giant Gunns Group, and it can't pass the liability on to Spark Helmore, despite the law firm's inadequate advice.

Fifteen former Macquarie Bank financial advisers are looking to expand their $2.6 million wages case against the bank, seeking evidence around allegedly unreasonable and unlawful deductions from their commissions.

Lawyers for former Citigroup executive Stephen Roberts have complained that prosecutors have failed to provide a “shred of material” to explain his alleged involvement in a criminal cartel relating to ANZ’s $2.5 billion capital raising, as the defendants fight to grill Crown witnesses before trial.