Christopher Archibald

A judge has ordered soft class closure ahead of mediation in a class action against five major banks over alleged foreign exchange rate-rigging, saying the applicant’s subjective view on what will assist mediation should not be imposed on the banks.

A judge has questioned the applicant’s opposition to soft class closure in a class action accusing five major banks of rate-rigging, a measure the banks say could save “tens of millions” in legal expenses. 

Glencore-owned Viterra must pay indemnity costs to four Joe White employees it dragged into a 10-year feud with Cargill over the $420 million sale of the Joe White business, after a judge found its claims against them were “hopeless from the outset”.

Citibank has argued group members should be asked to sign on to a class action accusing five major banks of entering a cartel agreement to rig foreign exchange rates before evidence is filed in the case, saying it was impossible to know how much the claims were worth. 

A judge has largely granted a bid by port operations provider Engage Marine to obtain copies of restricted documents in the ACCC’s case against TasPorts as it mounts its own case against the government-owned body, despite noting that principles of open justice don’t dictate an “open slather” approach to documents.

A judge has ordered MLC to pay $10 million for its “serious failure” to pay life insurance benefits to customers undergoing rehabilitation, in an ASIC case that also alleged the insurer failed to promptly update medical terms in policies.

MLC has agreed to cop a $10 million penalty for admitted breaches of the Corporations Act in an ASIC case that alleged the insurer failed to promptly update medical terms in policies and withheld payment of a life insurance benefit.

Wealth manager MLC Limited has admitted to violating the Corporations Act by failing to send overdue notices to policyholders over a 15-year period, but will defend the bulk of ASIC’s claims in proceedings accusing it of causing $17.5 million in harm to over a quarter of a million consumers.

Grain producer Viterra, which has been ordered to pay $293 million to Cargill Australia for making misleading representations during the sale of malt producer Joe White, rejected an offer to settle the lawsuit for $85 million, a court has heard.

Two law firms accused of providing negligent advice to Dover Financial over a so-called client protection policy found to be “highly misleading” have argued the defunct financial advisor should not be able to recover the $1.2 million penalty it was ordered to pay.