That a first filed case should be the presumptive winner in a competition between class actions seemed a losing argument before the High Court on Tuesday as the justices weighed a challenge to a ruling picking one among a group of class actions against AMP, but the court also appeared skeptical of the power to hold wide ranging inquiries into the merits of competing cases.
The eyes of class action lawyers will be on the High Court Tuesday as it hears arguments over a judge’s power to choose a single class action among competing proceedings and what, if anything, should be made of a case’s funding structure and likely returns to group members when picking a winner.
Changes to AMP’s buyer of last resort policy that reduced the multiple by which the wealth management firm would purchase advisers’ client registers was necessary to protect the business from a ‘BOLR run’, a court had been told.
The Australian Securities and Investment Commission will not take action against the Commonwealth Bank of Australia or any of its directors of officers in relation to AUSTRAC proceedings the bank agreed to settle for $700 million in 2018.
Construction giant Boral must now contend with three class actions by shareholders alleging it failed to disclose financial problems with its US windows business, but the cases will stay on ice pending a High Court challenge.
A court has given the green light for opt out and registration notices to be sent to group members in a shareholder class action against AMP, despite objections by the lead plaintiff in a competing class action.
An appeals court has been urged to uphold a judge’s $125 million penalty against Volkswagen in the ACCC’s case over the car maker’s emissions cheating, with a court-appointed contradictor saying the judge was “starved” of the information he required to assess whether a $75 million agreement brokered by the consumer watchdog was reasonable.
A judge has pushed off a heated contest between law firms vying to lead a shareholder class action against construction giant Boral for what could be a year as a landmark High Court challenge plays out.
The Commonwealth Bank of Australia has refused to provide sought-after documents to the lead applicants of a joint class action against it until AUSTRAC grants permission, citing concerns over possible criminal breaches if it hands over the material without the agency’s approval.
Two law firms that filed competing shareholder class actions against construction giant Boral have asked the court to permanently stay the other’s proceeding, after the judge overseeing the matter said he might wait until the High Court’s ruling on the AMP class action beauty parade before deciding which class action should move forward.