AMP’s financial planning unit has admitted it breached the Corporations Act when at least one of its representatives engaged in so-called insurance policy churning, in a case brought by the Australian Securities & Investments Commission that will now head to a hearing on penalties next month.
A judge has raised serious concerns about the proposed commission by the funder behind a $90 million sham contracting class action against fundraiser Appco, slamming as “intuitively wrong” an arrangment that could leave group members pocketing less than half of any recovery.
A battle over expert evidence in an invester class action against Fitch Ratings has delayed this month’s scheduled trial in the case by three months and forced the court to send the parties’ experts into conclaves.
A judge has consolidated two shareholder class actions brought against chain logistics company Brambles by Slater & Gordon and Maurice Blackburn, despite the rival firms failing to reach an agreement on the terms of the consolidation following a judge’s criticism of the class action “beauty parade”.
The Quintis shareholder class action trial could be delayed for almost two years, while ASIC runs its civil proceedings case against the founder of the sandalwood oil production company.
Law firm Maurice Blackburn has fired its opening salvo in a high-stakes appeal of a judge’s decision rejecting its class action against BHP over the Brazilian dam failure, saying the ruling deprived group members of pocketing higher net returns on any recovery and of choosing a more experienced firm to run the case for them.
A judge has signed off on the lead applicants’ bid to expand the current group definition in a class action against Johnson & Johnson unit Ethicon over allegedly defective vaginal mesh products, saying there was “no reason in logic” why the request should be denied.
Multiple Canberra property developers have been accused of deliberately trying to avoid repaying GST to home buyers at the outset of a class action trial involving almost 500 apartment owners.
The sought-after commission at the centre of an unsuccessful common fund application in a class action over the use of toxic foam at a RAAF base near Katherine, NT has been revealed as 15% of any gross recovery in the case plus up to three and a half times the funder’s costs.
Horse vaccine maker Zoetis has appealed a ruling that denied its request for $450,000 as security for costs in an unfunded class action accusing it of failing to warn about the vaccine’s side effects.