Elizabeth Collins

Class closure orders are “anathema” to the purpose of group proceedings in facilitating access to justice and should never be ordered, the High Court has been told.

Four proceedings over COVID-19 business interruption losses will be stripped of class action status, with a judge saying most of the common issues were already determined in test cases.

Applicants in two dismissed class actions against the Commonwealth Bank have secured an order staying an assessment of costs in the failed cases until the outcome of an appeal.

Two failed shareholder class actions against the Commonwealth Bank of Australia want to delay paying the bank’s costs until after their 62-ground appeal is heard.

A $100 million settlement by AMP in a class action by financial planners over the wealth manager’s buyer of last resort policy has been given the OK, but the litigation funder won’t be reimbursed for $2.6 million in insurance and administrative costs.

The High Court has agreed to step in to resolve division among Australia’s courts on the question of power to make orders that exclude unregistered group members from class action settlements.

A judge has signed off on an agreed-to $5 million penalty against Noumi in ASIC proceedings for violating its continuous disclosure obligations and found the food company’s non-disclosures caused it shares to trade at an inflated price.

Lendlease, which is facing claims by a former Greenwoods & Herbert Smith Freehills partner over its alleged “aggressive taxation position”, has failed in its bid for orders that evidence of the partner’s alleged loss be filed before mediation.

Noumi has agreed to pay a $5 million penalty for violating its continuous disclosure obligations in a case brought by the corporate regulator, but the applicant in a shareholder class action against the food company says the sum should be reserved to compensate group members. 

Four insurers have argued that class actions over alleged business interruption losses during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic should be de-classed, with one insurer saying group members cannot “go behind” a Full Court decision denying coverage for certain policyholders.