A judge has refused to approve Piper Alderman’s $3.5 million in legal fees charged for running a class action against KPMG, appointing Grant Thornton as contradictor and giving the auditor the ability to seek assistance from the court for any future disputes about the controversial bill.
The corporate watchdog has warned “robust” enforcement action is on the cards for banks and lenders, after a review found consumer credit insurance policies to be “extremely poor value for money”, paying out as little as 11 cents per dollar spent in premiums on average.
Rival law firms Maurice Blackburn and Phi Finney McDonald will be allowed to work together without consolidating their separate shareholder class actions against the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, after a judge ruled that the bank had overstated the potential for extra costs and delays.
A NAB-owned trustee is facing a possible class action over $100 million in allegedly excessive fees charged to super fund members.
Prosecutors will oppose a bid by ANZ, Citigroup, and Deutsche Bank to cross-examine witnesses at the upcoming committal hearing of the criminal cartel case over ANZ’s botched $2.5 billion institutional share placement.
Failed lender PR Finance Group has been sued for $5 million in damages by owner Keybridge Capital and its liquidators after the company went under for breaching Australian credit laws.
Boutique class actions law firm Phi Finney McDonald has won its bid to reserve costs incurred before its case was permanently stayed in the AMP shareholder class action beauty contest, after the firm racked up at least 1,345 hours in “sunk costs”.
APRA has been accused of harbouring an “unhinged hatred” for former IOOF managing director Chris Kelaher by his counsel, who was objecting to internal APRA documents he claims were disparaging of the wealth management company and its executives.
Westpac unit BankSA has reached an agreement to settle a class action alleging it failed to detect the fraud of convicted Ponzi schemer Michael Samra.
A judge overseeing competing consumer class actions against AMP over superannuation fees said he would be “reluctant” to hold a contest between the two cases, as the applicants in the rival proceedings tell the court they are in talks about possible consolidation.