AMP, Commonwealth Bank and Westpac are facing potential class actions over commissions grandfathered by the FoFA reforms and the firms alleged failure to protect client interests.
ASX-listed generic drug maker Mayne Pharma is facing a possible shareholder class action over disclosures related to US price-fixing allegations against the ASX-listed company.
The High Court has denied a special leave application by the former directors of defunct financial advisory Storm Financial, after the Full Federal Court upheld a ruling finding they had breached their duties to eleven vulnerable investors by providing an inappropriate, one-size-fits-all model of investment advice.
A 63-year-old partner of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu is suing the accounting giant and CEO Richard Deutsch alleging the firm’s mandatory retirement policy is discriminatory and has cost him almost $4 million.
Barrister Norman O’Bryan has accepted that he should be struck from the roll of legal practitioners after dropping his defence mid-trial against claims of professional misconduct as senior counsel for a class action financed by the late Mark Elliott, but the consequences for the once high-flying silk might not end there.
Former financial adviser Graeme Miller has been jailed for six years after pleading guilty to misappropriating $1.865 million in client funds in what a judge described as a “cruel and deceitful betrayal”.
Counselling app Lyf is suing smartphone maker Mintt for allegedly infringing on a trade mark it owns for the universal OK hand gesture, saying Mintt’s logo is substantially identical to Lyf’s registered mark.
A recent decision in ASIC’s case against ANZ has highlighted the potential risks of waiver of client legal privilege, with the Federal Court observing that the distinctions can be “fine”. While ANZ avoided having to disclose its legal advice to the regulator, the decision is a reminder of the potential pitfalls of referring to legal advice in correspondence, and that pleading a state of mind in litigation carries risks from a privilege perspective, says Hall & Wilcox partner Jacob Uljans.
Shine Lawyers is investigating two new class actions against Commonwealth Bank of Australia and Westpac’s BT Funds Management over allegedly excessive insurance premiums, a week after filing a similar case against AMP’s life insurance arm.
Google and Facebook will face penalties of at least $10 million for breaches of a media bargaining code drafted by the ACCC that aims to create a “level playing field” between Australian media companies and the tech giants.