A NSW Supreme Court decision refusing to put a Maurice Blackburn-led shareholder class action against AMP on ice pending a High Court challenge has been appealed by the lead applicant of a competing case.
A judge has declined to put a Maurice Blackburn-led class action against AMP on hold while the High Court decides whether to overturn a ruling awarding the firm carriage of the matter following a high-stakes battle against three other law firms.
Maurice Blackburnās shareholder class action against AMP should be put on ice until the High Court decides whether a ruling in last year’s beauty parade awarding the firm carriage of the matter was decided in error, a court has heard.
The power of courts to choose a single winner from a contest of competing class actions is not the likely target of the High Court in taking up a challenge to last year’s beauty parade of shareholder proceedings against AMP, but the analysis behind the decision to award Maurice Blackburn the prize could face scrutiny, experts say.
The second of two class actions brought against Westpac over alleged anti-money laundering breaches has been denied discovery of what the bank claims are commercially sensitive documents until the law firms behind the class actions work out how their competing cases will proceed.
The High Court has agreed to weigh in on a decision last year to pick Maurice Blackburn’s case as the winner of a beauty parade of shareholder class actions against AMP over the wealth manager’s controversial fees for no service.
Westpac has been hit with another class action over alleged anti-money laundering breaches, teeing up a high-stakes beauty parade over which firm will lead the class action against the bank.
An individual claimant accusing AMP Financial Planning of ignoring multiple attempts to gain remediation for alleged insurance re-writing conduct was granted permission to voice his displeasure in court, while ASIC and AMP grapple with the details of a remediation program for insurance churn victims.
The Federal Court has imposed a penalty of almost $5.2 million on AMP Financial Planning after finding it was “reckless” in its ālamentable failureā to properly respond to a now banned adviser who was churning life insurance for higher commissions.
Westpac is now facing at least eight class actions in various US courts seeking $200 million from the bank for allegedly failing to alert shareholders to violations of anti-money laundering laws.