Marcus Pesman

A mid-trial fight has erupted in a class action over the collapse of steelmaker Arrium, with the company's auditor and directors saying the case had swerved, and the plaintiff accusing the respondents of "playing games".

KPMG has told a judge there is no evidence that Arrium's share price would have changed even if it had recorded a $2.8 billion impairment, urging the judge to reject the shareholder class action's "intuitive" case on loss. 

Former directors of steelmaker Arrium have rejected shareholder class action claims that the company's collapse was foreseeable, calling claims they had their heads in the sand “arrant nonsense”. 

KPMG failed to bring the necessary scepticism to the task of auditing failing steel manufacturer Arrium, instead leaving contradictory evidence unresolved and giving the company a clean bill of health, a shareholder class action has told the court.

A shareholder class action against KPMG and ex-Arrium directors says the company's accounts were infected by "chronic and systemic overoptimism", with the former operator of Whyalla Steelworks portraying as viable a business that was impaired up to $2.8 billion.

Contractor Civil & Civic Corporation has lost an appeal against construction firm Nova Builders over an alleged mistaken payment for work done on a lakeside townhouse development in Canberra.

A creditor of developer The Gosford has filed an appeal in a dispute over a $185 million property in Sydney, after a judge found that $48 million owed by builder Shinetec to its parent company after the developer called on a letter of credit fell within the definition of ‘secured money’.

The NSW Court of Appeal has dismissed an appeal launched by a Canberra warehouse owner, which sought over $5.3 million from the previous owner for the cost of replacing a concrete slab.

Special purpose liquidators have been appointed to failed clothing retailer Mosaic Brands, after a judge found a reasonable apprehension of bias arising from liquidator Vaughan Strawbridge's former link to Deloitte.

A judge has handed Shinetec a win in its dispute with the developer of a scuttled $185 million project in Sydney, finding that $48 million owed by the builder to its parent company after the developer called on a letter of credit fell within the definition of ‘secured money’.