The Federal Court judge who is now overseeing a high stakes criminal cartel case against several investment banks and individuals over a $2.5 billion ANZ share placement has ordered that an indictment be filed by February 1, telling the parties “we have to get this case moving” and that he hoped to move the matter to trial “before we all retire”.
Three banks have been committed to stand trial after pleading not guilty to criminal charges stemming from an alleged cartel agreement reached in a $2.5 billion ANZ share placement, with the closely watched case now moving to the Federal Court two-and-a-half years after it was filed.
A local court magistrate overseeing the ANZ criminal cartel case has denied a bid by prosecutors to be given twice the length of time typically allotted to parties for case conference discussions, saying the sooner the proceedings can be transferred to the Federal Court the better.
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.
For the lawyers conducting the committal hearings in the criminal cartel case over ANZ’s $2.5 billion equity raising, the Sydney Downing Centre courtroom was already too close for comfort.
An ACCC officer who was heading up a team investigating alleged cartel conduct by ANZ Banking Group and three investment banks has admitted that the regulator may have made an ‘oversight’ in a letter of comfort offered to JPMorgan ahead of the bank’s immunity application in the case.
During another day of cross-examination in a criminal cartel case against ANZ and two investment banks, a key ACCC officer was accused of lying about his interrogation of a key cartel witness, with the officer insisting there was nothing “sinister” in his examination.
An ACCC investigator has come under fire from ANZ as the bank seeks to shoot holes in the criminal cartel action against it, with counsel for the bank accusing the regulator of “infecting” witness statements and erasing testimony that weakened its case.
A key officer from the ACCC involved in interviewing JPMorgan bankers during a cartel investigation that led to criminal charges against ANZ and two investment banks has denied allegations that he acted improperly during the investigation.
A magistrate has dismissed a bid to expand the cross examination of a JPMorgan witness in the closely watched criminal cartel case over a $2.5 billion ANZ share placement, calling it a “back door” attempt to bypass a prior court ruling.