Group members in two settled class actions against clothing retailer Surfstitch have been told the settlement amount available to them has plummeted amid a “very difficult retail environment”.
For the lawyers conducting the committal hearings in the criminal cartel case over ANZ’s $2.5 billion equity raising, the Sydney Downing Centre courtroom was already too close for comfort.
Fonterra Brands has been blocked from accessing documents recording a witness statement made and later disputed by Bega’s executive chairman, in a dispute between the two dairy companies over a trade mark licence agreement.
A judge has directed solicitors for deceased lawyer and funder Mark Elliott to search for his missing mobile phone, which is wanted for potential evidence by a court-appointed contradictor investigating alleged professional misconduct on the part of the legal team behind a settled class action against failed Banksia Securities.
An ACCC officer who was heading up a team investigating alleged cartel conduct by ANZ Banking Group and three investment banks has admitted that the regulator may have made an ‘oversight’ in a letter of comfort offered to JPMorgan ahead of the bank’s immunity application in the case.
During another day of cross-examination in a criminal cartel case against ANZ and two investment banks, a key ACCC officer was accused of lying about his interrogation of a key cartel witness, with the officer insisting there was nothing “sinister” in his examination.
An ACCC investigator has come under fire from ANZ as the bank seeks to shoot holes in the criminal cartel action against it, with counsel for the bank accusing the regulator of “infecting” witness statements and erasing testimony that weakened its case.
A key officer from the ACCC involved in interviewing JPMorgan bankers during a cartel investigation that led to criminal charges against ANZ and two investment banks has denied allegations that he acted improperly during the investigation.
A lawyer for Tasmanian state government owned ports company TasPorts has criticised the ACCC’s first-of-its kind case that alleges it is misusing its market power to stymie competition, saying it isn’t clear what the regulator wants the court to do.
Facing a class action by shareholders alleging negligence over advice to Slater & Gordon, law firm Arnold Bloch Leibler is bringing proceedings against its former client to use files in defence of the case.