Whether judges can alter the terms of litigation funding agreements in class actions is a question that will remain unsettled for now, after litigation funder IMF Bentham chose to sidestep a lengthy, costly and risky challenge to the reach of the court’s powers.
The National Australia Bank faces the prospect of “significant monetary penalties” after self-reporting a potentially large number of money laundering and counter terrorism financing breaches to AUSTRAC and its overseas counterparts.
Certain claims in a shareholder class action against insolvent training company Vocation and auditor PricewaterhouseCoopers have been dropped, as the long-running case awaits a new trial date pending the outcome of a separate Full Court appeal.
A unit of staffing company Programmed has become the latest target of a litigation blitz over casual workers, with the company facing a $45 million class action for allegedly failing to pay workers accrued annual leave and other entitlements.
A hearing scheduled for next year in the Australian Securities and Investments Commission’s case against two NAB wealth management units will focus solely on how steep a penalty the bank should face after it made admissions about its fees for no service conduct.
Murray Goulburn has agreed to pay $37.5 million to resolve the second of two shareholder class actions over its 2016 profit forecasts, as the $42 million settlement of the first class action is held up over questions about the litigation funder’s commission.
Slater & Gordon UK has agreed to a $20.7 million settlement of its claims against Watchstone Group, after seeking more than $1 billion from the insurance company over a botched 2015 acquisition that has spawned multiple class actions against the Australian firm.
A judge’s decision refusing to approve a $42 million settlement in a shareholder class action against Murray Goulburn because of a “too high” funder’s commission has set the stage for a showdown over the power of courts to alter funding agreements, a battle potentially more consequential than the fight over common fund orders now before the High Court.
Commonwealth Bank’s wealth management unit Colonial First State has been hit with a second class action in as many days, this one alleging it charged excesssive superannuation fees to fund commissions to financial advisers.
A judge has refused to sign off on a $42 million settlement of a class action against dairy giant Murray Goulburn, saying the commission sought by the funder appeared out of proportion to the risk and above the going rate.