A class action against ANZ over alleged predatory lending practices has settled for $85 million, while two related cases against Westpac and Macquarie are set to go to trial this month.
Westpac’s shuttered home loan unit RAMS may hit back at franchisees’ class action claims by alleging they made misrepresentations and provided fraudulent documents.
A class action targeting Westpac subsidiary BT Funds Management and Tal Life Insurance is set to be discontinued less than a year after it was filed.
The law firm running class actions against ANZ and Westpac has been pulled up for claiming confidentiality over a solicitor’s affidavits on the costs incurred by the applicants since the court approved settlements in the cases.
Banks targeted in long-running class actions over flexible commission schemes for car dealers are resisting the plaintiffs’ bid to amend their pleadings to “get around” the defence that certain claims are time-barred.
Characterising a settled lawsuit by a Westpac senior executive alleging employment breaches as a “private” matter, a judge has made broad confidentiality orders that bar public access to the case.
Pointing to Westpac’s progress in risk governance since it was targeted by AUSTRAC for systemic failures five years ago, the prudential watchdog has said it will halve a $1 billion capital requirement.
The Federal Court must guard against “exceptions by accretion” when weighing Westpac’s application to prevent the public from accessing documents filed in a lawsuit by the bank’s former head of strategy, which has resolved in a confidential settlement, a judge heard Wednesday.
Despite arguing for suppression as a means only to successful mediation, Westpac now wants a settled employment case brought by an executive kept under lock and key. And in a worrying sign the Federal Court may have lost sight of the importance of open justice, a judge has indicated she would entertain an order that the suit never see the light of day.
Westpac has won its case against the owner of a fruit stand in Sydney’s Flemington Markets over a fraudulent scheme perpetrated using a $15 million invoice discounting facility provided by the bank.