Google has rejected claims by the ACCC that it tricked consumers into agreeing to expanded collection of their personal data, saying that it instead sought “explicit consent” from users through an “easy-to-understand opt-in consent mechanism”.
A senior officer from the ACCC has rejected claims that the regulator took legal advice from immunity applicant JPMorgan before launching its high profile criminal cartel case against ANZ, Citigroup and Deutsche Bank.
A former high-ranking Deutsche Bank executive charged with involvement in an alleged cartel agreement relating to a $2.5 billion ANZ share placement claims he was dragged into the case becaused of the “incredibly slapdash” methods of the ACCC.
ANZ Banking Group has slammed a decision by the ACCC to escalate concerns that one of its key cartel witnesses was not being “full and frank”, claiming this was a way to put pressure on the witness and bring his evidence into line.
The ACCC’s investigatory techniques have come under fire during a hearing over an alleged criminal cartel agreement between ANZ and two investment banks, with a barrister for one of the banks suggesting investigators from the regulator deliberately did not take notes during hundreds of days of witness interviews to avoid disclosure.
Despite receiving immunity in a criminal cartel case against ANZ and two other investment banks, JPMorgan has disputed the existence of any cartel agreement since the early days of the ACCC’s investigations, a court has heard.
A judge has agreed to give two executives of Geowash a reprieve from enforcement of $2.7 million in penalties pending an appeal of a judgment in an ACCC case that found the car wash franchisor overcharged franchisees and misled them about expected revenue.
Johnson & Johnson subsidiary Ethicon has been hit with an indemnity costs order for “unreasonable conduct” after its loss in last year’s pelvic mesh class action ruling, which found that the pharmaceutical giant did not adequately warn of the risks of the implants.
Medical device giant Johnson & Johnson has confirmed it will not seek the recusal of a Federal Court judge from a panel overseeing its pelvic mesh class action appeal, despite earlier raising concerns that he had seen privileged settlement communications.
A judge has found that the law firm behind a plethora of pelvic mesh lawsuits filed in multiple courts should be personally hit with costs for its “keystone cop-like conduct” in handling the proceedings, but has given the firm a week to convince him otherwise.