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.
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.
Westpac and French investment bank Societe Generale have obtained freezing orders over $263 million in assets in fraud cases brought against a Sydney software firm and its director, with a court hearing that other financial institutions may also be at risk from the alleged fraud.
Westpac has shot back at a lawsuit brought by ASIC over the selling of alleged poor value insurance products, with the bank saying its customers had agreed to take out the “optional” coverage.
A Victoria Supreme Court judge weighing for the first time an application by a law firm for a percentage cut of recoveries in class actions has been told to reject the bid because group members would fare better under the firm’s current no win, no fee funding arrangement.
A former Westpac banking veteran and whistleblower has sued the Big Four bank, claiming she was dismissed in retaliation for complaints filed about the bank’s risk and compliance failings.
Westpac has argued that ASIC should flesh out its case accusing the banking giant of insider trading before the $16 billion privatisation of electricity provider Ausgrid, saying the regulator has not explained the nature of the alleged inside information.
A mid-trial settlement has been reached in a lawsuit brought by the liquidators of collapsed steel giant Arrium against 10 former company directors and officers for allegedly engaging in insolvent trading.