Companies and government entities paid out less to settle class actions in 2023 than in the previous two years, with no mega settlements hitting their pocketbooks.
Two law firms running competing class actions against Qantas over flight cancellations during the COVID-19 pandemic have agreed to cooperate after a judge took them to task for revising their funding positions in the lead up to a courtroom battle.
The funders that bankrolled a securities class action against collapsed engineering firm RCR Tomlinson will ask the court to give them an $8 million cut of a $40 million settlement. A further $12 million in legal fees means shareholders will get 50 per cent of the settlement sum.
ANZ will appeal a ruling that it breached its continuous disclosure obligations when it failed to inform the ASX of a bailout by the underwriters of a 2015 institutional share placement.
ANZ’s failure to disclose a bailout by banks underwriting a $2.5 billion share placement has resulted in a penalty of less than $1 million, ending an eight-year saga that included an aborted criminal trial.
Qantas has hit back the ACCC’s argument that the airline failed to respond to key allegations in its ‘ghost flights’ case, telling the court it’s the regulator’s job to particularise its claims.
Former ANZ superannuation trustee OnePath Custodians has been hit with a $5 million penalty for charging superannuation members more than $4 million in fees that it was not entitled to.
The ACCC has raised concerns over Qantas’ alleged failure to respond to claims in a blockbuster case against the airline over the sale of tickets on cancelled flights.
Qantas has hit back at the ACCC’s case alleging it sold thousands of tickets on cancelled flights for commercial gain, saying airlines cannot guarantee flights will run as planned.
Former Dixon Advisory director Paul Ryan will ask the court for a suppression order protecting advice by a Big Six firm, as he defends ASIC’s claim that he failed to consider creditors when executing a deed that affected the company’s ability to recoup a $19 million debt.