Westpac unit BankSA has reached an agreement to settle a class action alleging it failed to detect the fraud of convicted Ponzi schemer Michael Samra.
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission is challenging the dismissal of its enforcement action against National Australia Bank contractor Whitebox Trading and sole director Johannes Boshoff, which accused them of market manipulation that resulted in a spike in the price of securities on the ASX-200 index in October 2012.
The funder backing the IAG add-on insurance class action has agreed to a fixed 25 per cent commission, after the plaintiff copped criticism from a judge for the largely redacted funding agreement which called for lower rates if the case settled by a certain date.
Facing cross claims by Pitcher Partners in two shareholder class actions alleging the accounting firm wrongly signed off on Slater & Gordon’s financial reports ahead of a share price nosedive, the law firm and its ex-directors say they relied on the auditor to ensure the veracity of the statements.
Rival law firms Phi Finney McDonald and Maurice Blackburn have offered to consolidate their competing shareholder class actions against BHP after prompting by the Full Federal Court, which said Friday it approved of the plan.
Shareholders of troubled sandalwood producer Quintis who are eligible group members in two consolidated class actions against the company can bet on which of the two cases will give them the best returns, if any, and the Federal Court has appointed an independent lawyer to help them make the choice.
Ernst & Young, which has been named in a class action over its auditing of sandalwood producer Quintis, has filed cross-claims alleging Quintis should pick up the tab for any liability it may face in the proceedings.
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission has lost its market manipulation action against Whitebox Trading and its director Johannes Boshoff, with the court finding it was “practically impossible” that any of the trades at the centre of the case were made for an illegitimate purpose.
The government of East Timor will appeal a Victorian Supreme Court judgment dismissing its application to throw out a case brought by oil and gas firm Lighthouse Corporation over a failed fuel supply agreement.
Failed sandalwood oil producer Quintis has agreed to hand over insurance policies showing any coverage for potential liability it or its former CEO may have in two class actions brought against them.