A judge has ruled that department store Myer engaged in misleading or deceptive conduct and breached its continuous disclosure obligations when it failed to correct its “inflated” 2015 net profit forecasts, but said shareholders may not have suffered any loss flowing from the breaches, in a monumental decision that also found investors do not always need to prove direct reliance on misrepresentations in claiming damages in class actions.
The judge who presided over a rare securities class action trial last year against department store Myer will deliver judgment in the case this month that could be the first ruling on causation in Australian shareholder class actions and has the potential to have a chilling effect on law firms bringing the cases.
ASIC and other government regulators bringing enforcement action in the docket of one Federal Court judge must abide by a strict new protocol to prevent a repeat of the corporate watchdog’s “wait and see” strategy in a case against ex-Murray Goulburn directors that came close, the judge said, to bringing the administration of justice into disrepute.
A judge has refused a bid by two former Murray Goulburn executives to throw out a disqualification case brought by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, despite admonishing the corporate regulator for its delay in bringing the case and establishing a protocol for regulators filing cases in his docket.
A judge overseeing a settled class action against failed Banksia Securities has rejected an application to limit a contradictor’s investigation of alleged professional misconduct on the part of the legal team and funder behind the case, saying he was satisfied there was a proper basis for the allegations.
A judge has removed the funder and law firm leading the Banksia Securities class action from their roles supervising a proposed settlement distribution scheme after the funder was accused of intimidation, a lack of experience and charging excessive costs.
The judge overseeing proceedings brought against logistics company GetSwift has refused the corporate regulator’s request for another year’s worth of documents, saying it could effectively require the company to start the discovery process over again.
A judge on Friday asked the corporate regulator why it delayed action against former Murray Goulburn managing director Gary Helou and CFO Bradley Hingle until two years’ after the consumer watchdog brought its case against the pair.
Customers of mortgage lending and investment firm RMBL say they were “shocked” when the company’s chief financial officer allegedly called them to say “he hoped” they would opt out of an excessive fees class action that had been filed against the firm.
The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission has commenced legal action against Samsung Electronics for allegedly making false, misleading and deceptive representations when marketing the water resistant capabilities of its Galaxy smartphones.