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.
Deloitte is challenging a judge’s ruling that certain partners not be excused from an order to produce files of the accounting giant’s audit work for Hastie Group to shareholders in a class action over the construction company’s collapse, its latest move after a failed attempt to persuade the judge that a rogue partner had taken the only copies of the files and refused to give them back.
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.
Class action experts have come to the defence of boutique law firm Phi Finney McDonald as heavyweight Maurice Blackburn appeals a judge’s ruling to choose the “less experienced” firm to lead a shareholder class action against BHP Billiton.
A judge has taken Qantas to task over its defence in a Fair Work case brought by the Australian Licenced Aircraft Engineers Association union over alleged underpayments to LA-based mechanics, calling the document “extremely unhelpful”.
A class action against Ethicon over allegedly faulty pelvic mesh implants wants introduce confidential evidence from prior settlement negotiations as it attempts to shut down the medical device maker’s class closure application.
Logistics startup GetSwift has confirmed it will fight an appeal to the High Court by law firm Squire Patton Boggs challenging a landmark ruling that permanently stayed two of three competing shareholder class actions against the company.