Three words missing from a demand letter have sunken oil and gas producer Santos Limited’s appeal of a loss in its dispute with French bank BNP Paribas over a $55 million bank guarantee.
Companies that run afoul of the law should brace for more courtroom battles against ASIC, after the Hayne Royal Commission urged the corporate regulator to make litigation a central pillar of its enforcement strategy.
Banking royal commissioner Kenneth Hayne has recommended at least two unnamed entities face criminal charges for dishonest conduct connected to their fees for no service practices, an offence that carries a maximum penalty of 10 years’ jail or a hefty fine, or both.
An appeal before a historic joint sitting of two courts over so-called common fund orders in class actions kicked off Monday with a full bench of six judges and a packed courtroom hearing arguments by eminent barristers for BMW and Westpac that the orders are either preemptive or pointless.
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission has ordered Commonwealth Bank to immediately stop charging customers service fees, after the bank violated the terms of an enforceable undertaking related to its fees for no service conduct.
Visa has resolved a lawsuit by a fintech founder alleging it misused its market power by banning the use of dynamic currency conversion services in several countries, including Australia and the US.
A judge has signed off on a $16.4 million settlement of a class action against Cash Converters, but not before scrapping a clause he said tied the court’s hands by making the deal conditional on the appointment of Maurice Blackburn as scheme administrator.
ASIC has been ordered to reveal the extent of its communications with experts that are compiling a report central to its case against AMP over alleged insurance churning by one of its former financial advisers.
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission has called for the big accounting firms to focus on “culture and talent” after a new report found one in five audits had no reasonable basis for clearing company financial reports of material misstatements.
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said new laws may not be needed to remedy the cracks in the financial system laid bare during the Hayne Royal Commission.