Technology company Nuix has been hit with a third shareholder class action over its troubled $1.8 billion float on the ASX, setting up what is likely to be the first beauty parade in the Supreme Court of Victoria since the state allowed class action lawyers to seek a cut of any settlement or judgment.
Tokio Marine subsidiary Bond & Credit Company and fired underwriter Greg Brereton have been pulled into lawsuits targeting Insurance Australia Group over trade credit policies covering $4.6 billion in loans issued by the now collapsed Greensill Capital.
Logistics company GetSwift will argue on appeal that a judge who found the company took a “PR-driven approach” to ASX statements was wrong in his assessment of whether those statements contained material omissions.
Logistics company GetSwift and its directors are appealing a win for ASIC in the regulator’s case that alleged they breached their continuous disclosure obligations and engaged in misleading and deceptive conduct in the release of 22 ASX announcements.
A settlement in a shareholder class action against GetSwift has collapsed as the logistics company seeks to secure financing to keep it afloat and pay the final portion of the deal’s $1.5 million cash component.
A settlement agreement in a shareholder class action against GetSwift may be scrapped as the applicant seeks more information as to whether the logistics company is solvent or about to go under.
If evidence were needed that courts are not rubber stamping class action settlements, the scrutiny of multi-million dollar agreements in 2021 is proof positive that judicial oversight of representative proceedings is robust.
Class action settlement totals skyrocketed to over $900 million last year, and one law firm negotiated the lion’s share, with $672 million in settlements under its belt.
Two major Zip Co investors have sued Merrill Lynch for allegedly breaching its duties as financial advisor by recommending they sell their shares in the Aussie fintech after September 1 last year, at which point Paypal’s announcement that it would enter the buy now, pay later market had sent Zip’s share price plummeting.
Two landmark class actions seeking damages from the Victorian government for economic losses suffered during last year’s second wave of COVID-19 have been thrown out, but one of the cases will be given a second chance to proceed.