Andrew Harding

Hospitality giant Mantle Group is stuck with a decision that found it systematically underpaid employees, after failing to convince the High Court that review was warranted because “harsh” comments made by the Fair Work Commission gave rise to the appearance of bias.

In a win for ASIC, the Federal Court has found that non-bank lender Firstmac Limited breached the design and distribution obligations, introduced in 2021, by marketing a managed investment scheme that could be unsuitable for customers’ financial needs. 

Hospitality giant Mantle Group has asked the High Court to find a statement by a full bench of the Fair Work Commission accusing it of acting “extraordinarily and contumaciously” during a dispute about a ‘sham’ enterprise agreement gave rise to an appearance of bias.

A subsidiary of hospitality giant Mantle Group has failed to set aside a Fair Work Commission decision finding it systematically underpaid employees and gave “knowingly false” evidence, with an appeals court refusing to find the decision gave rise to the appearance of bias.

Personal lender ClearLoans and its parent company have been hit with $6 million in penalties for violating consumer credit protections laws, including by failing to respond to financial hardship notices from debtors during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Personal lender ClearLoans and its parent company have agreed to pay penalties of just over $6 million to settle the first COVID-19 related case brought by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission.

The sole director of personal lender ClearLoans has agreed to settle the first case the Australian Securities and Investments Commission brought related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Personal lender ClearLoans has lost its bid to strike out claims in ASIC’s first case related to the COVID-19 pandemic after a judge found the regulator’s action, which accuses the lender of breaching the hardship provisions of the credit laws, was “sufficiently clear”.

The judge overseeing ASIC’s first COVID-19-related case has criticised personal lender ClearLoans’ delay in responding to the case, saying a change in the company’s legal representation was not an excuse for defaulting on court orders.

Canadian trader Daniel Schlaepfer has suffered a loss in his $10 million defamation case against ASIC, with an appeals court tossing the lawsuit despite finding the regulator defamed him and his firm by accusing them of unlawful market manipulation.