Events

A judge has ordered the lead applicant in a failed class action against Queensland utilities Stanwell and CS Energy, which was slated to be worth $1 billion, to pay $32.4 million in costs.

Otsuka Pharmaceuticals has asked the High Court to overturn a decision revoking its Abilify patent extension, saying the ruling, which limited the extension-of term scheme to active substances only, will “lead to a groundswell of court proceedings”.

A tribunal has refused to terminate a lease for a dairy farm in Raleigh, NSW and declined to order $500,000 in compensation over claims the tenants are responsible for deterioration in the property, including the “uncontrolled infestation” of a noxious weed. 

Class action settlements hit major milestones last year, with the year’s largest settlements totalling $1.6 billion and one case resolving for a historic $548.5 million.

A judge has ordered Australian Unity to pay a $7.1 million penalty in ASIC proceedings alleging it pumped more than $9.5 million into a risky mortgage scheme without properly vetting investors. 

A judge has allowed a shareholder class action over the collapse of asset manager Blue Sky to bring insider trading claims against several short sellers, as well as brokers Credit Suisse and Argonaut Securities. 

A MWL financial adviser has been banned for seven years for advising clients to invest most of their super into Keystone's Shield Master Fund, which is suspected of misusing $480 million in investor funds. 

ASIC has questions about the “bona fides” of a rental company’s appeal of a $7.4 million penalty for unlawful loan agreements, telling a court it needs to see evidence about the “very rapid decline” of the company’s financial position.

Macquarie Securities has agreed to pay a $35 million penalty in a civil suit brought by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission alleging systemic misreporting of short sales over a 14-year period.

The liquidators of Falcon Capital, which is suspected of having misused $450 million in investor funds, have sued a Melbourne property developer, claiming he knowingly assisted Falcon to loan millions in trust money in a “dishonest and fraudulent design”.