An in-principle settlement has been reached with law firms Arnold Bloch Leibler and Slater & Gordon in a class action over Slater & Gordon’s disastrous $1.2 billion Quindell acquisition.
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission has won its case against IOOF unit RI Advice, with a judge finding the financial services firm failed to ensure its advisers acted in the best interests of clients and did not give inappropriate advice.
Car giant General Motors, which faces a class action by former Holden franchisees, wants to strip the case of class status, arguing that “idiosyncrasies” in group member claims could result in further lawsuits even after a judgment in the case.
A Victoria Supreme Court judge has rejected a post-trial bid to keep details of the 2019 sale of Cargill’s malt business under wraps in a long-running case over Viterra’s $420 million sale of its Joe White business, finding the move would be contrary to the principles of open justice where no harm from disclosure had been demonstrated.
A former financial advisor employed by an IOOF unit accused of taking hefty commissions for steering investors towards risky investments contravened the financial advice provisions of the Corporations Act, a judge has found.
The judge overseeing two class actions over legal and accounting advice given ahead of Slater & Gordon’s disastrous Quindell acquisition has said he will hear the cases together, citing the “dangers” of the approach taken in litigation against GetSwift, which resulted in a judge being ordered to step down.
A financial adviser at the centre of ASIC’s bad advice case against an IOOF unit might mount an argument that a fair trial is not possible because of his “fulsome” answers to investigators during a compulsory examination.
ASIC’s warning about the futility of mediation with an IOOF subsidiary has proved prophetic, with talks last week failing to resolve the regulator’s case ahead of trial starting Monday.
A judge has ordered ASIC to enter mediation before heading into a “very expensive” trial with an IOOF subsidiary accused of giving shonky advice, over objections from the regulator that mediation would be “completely futile”.
A judge has approved a $9.5 million settlement in a class action against McMillan Shakespeare as fair and reasonable, allowing a common fund order and a nearly 30 percent commission for the litigation funder despite previously raising “real concerns” about the small portion flowing to group members.