Raini Zambelli

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.

The prevailing applicants in a contest to run class actions against Hyundai and Kia want all their costs of the beauty parade against the plaintiffs and funders of the failed cases, arguing the whole of their outlay was unnecessary.

The managing director of the Australian arm of property developer Arada has lost his bid to bar a vote on his termination as he and the group's CEO sling allegations of misconduct and dishonesty. 

IC Markets has prevailed in a fight with the applicant in a class action against the brokerage firm, which sought to personalise a notice to group members advising them of the case.

IC Markets is fighting a class action's bid for “highly private and confidential” information about possible group members to craft personalised opt-out notices, arguing the information would be safer in the hands of a third-party mailing house than a plaintiff firm given increasing cyberattack risks. 

A judge has awarded carriage of class actions against Hyundai and Kia to Maurice Blackburn after declining to allow a sixth offer by competing firm Banton Group, saying re-bids outside the orderly process of carriage fights must be "carefully assessed".

A law firm fighting for carriage of class actions against Hyundai and Kia has argued competing proceedings with a lower funding rate should not have a leg up, saying the rival firm’s budget was a "fantasy".

Applicants in class actions against Hyundai and Kia have complained they are being left in the dark about whether a competing set of cases will amend their pleadings ahead of next month's law firm carriage fight.

Class actions against Hyundai and Kia over alleged defective anti-lock braking systems could expand "dramatically”, a court has heard, as a contest over competing cases ticks over into a second year.