Search giant Google may face a class action by disgruntled business owners seeking compensation for loss and damage they claim has been caused by anonymous negative online reviews.
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.
The Federal Government has blessed the ACCC’s request for an extended public inquiry into Google and Facebook as well as a separate probe into the tech giants’ advertising practices, arming the regulator with the power to collect information on the companies’ advertising and search algorithms.
Former Bellamy’s Australia director Jan Cameron has been charged by prosecutors after an ASIC investigation over her alleged failure to disclose her substantial stake in the organic baby food company.
The law firms running two competing product liability class actions against chemical giant Monsanto over its allegedly cancer-causing weed killer have been unable to reach agreement on how they will jointly manage the cases, a court has heard.
Nine-owned Fairfax Media has been sent back to the drawing board to redo what a judge called a “very unhelpful” defence to a defamation lawsuit brought by venture capitalist Elaine Stead over articles that appeared in the Australian Financial Review about her role in the collapse of fund manager Blue Sky Alternative Investments.
Vodafone has won its case against the ACCC over its proposed merger with rival telecommunications company TPG, with a judge ruling the tie-up would not substantially lessen competition and had a real chance of becoming a “competitive force” against the two dominant players in the market, Telstra and Optus.
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.
The funder behind a class action against Westpac over allegedly excessive insurance premiums has confirmed that it will continue backing the case despite earlier concerns it may pull out in the wake of the High Court’s landmark ruling on common fund orders.
AMP will face a class action alleging its financial representatives pushed AMP inflated insurance policies onto 100,000 customers despite knowing that better policies could be found through other providers.