Class actions brought by victims of the failed Willmott Forests managed investment scheme have come to a close, two years after a judge issued a stunning ruling rejecting an initial settlement as favoring clients of M&K Lawyers over other investors, and including payment of a hefty legal bill.
ASIC deputy chair Peter Kell has put financial services firm’s on notice that excusing poor behaviour as an industrywide problem won’t cut it anymore.
Westpac faced another tortuous day at the Banking Royal Commission on Tuesday, with general manager of commercial banking Alastair Welsh under the spotlight for inconsistencies in the bank’s small business lending practices.
AMP appeared in court Friday to defend the first of five class actions filed on behalf of shareholders in the wake of damaging Royal Commission hearings into its conduct over advice fees.
Not to be outdone by other class action firms vying to recruit AMP shareholders for a $2 billion class action, Slater & Gordon announced Friday it would offer investors “the most competitive funding package of all”.
Beleaguered financial institution AMP is facing yet another shareholder class action with Shine Lawyers joining three other law firms in what is shaping up to be a beauty pageant of class actions.
ASIC’s newly installed chief on Thursday slammed banks and other financial firms for their “trust deficit” and vowed to deploy “every inch of our powers and tools” to go after violators.
The financing arrangement underwriting Quinn Emanuel’s shareholder class action against AMP, which will earn its partner Burford Capital a record low 10 percent of any recovery, sets a new standard in class action litigation funding, and is expected to spark greater price competition in the industry.
A bidding war erupted Tuesday among law firms angling to lead a $2 billion shareholder class action against AMP, with Maurice Blackburn announcing a “super deal” and Quinn Emanuel besting that with a funding arrangement to “shake up” the market.
A two-day hearing has been scheduled in the Westpac life insurance class action over a proposed funding arrangement that would give litigation backer JustKapital 30 per cent of any recovery, in addition to costs outlaid by lawyers for the class.