Westpac has lost a bid to keep group members in the dark about the premiums paid for allegedly worthless consumer credit insurance, information the bank said could inflate expectations about settlements worth $126 million reached in three class actions.
Mining company Quantum Graphite has filed proceedings against accounting firm Grant Thornton over a 2020 report that caused the Australian Stock Exchange to suspend trading in the mining company’s securities for 14 months.
Developer JD Group has scored a partial win in its challenge to a damages award to a Melbourne couple over a “deliberately misleading” rendering of a $9.6 million apartment, with a judge saying the case showed the “inherent risk” in buying apartments off-the-plan.
The competition regulator has detailed “significant” concerns with Cochlear’s proposed acquisition of Oticon Medical, saying Thursday a tie-up would cut to three the number of cochlear implant suppliers in Australia.
A judge has approved a $33 million settlement in a class action against vocational education provider Box Hill Institute, but taken the ax to a law firm’s proposed 18.25 per cent loading on its fees, saying courts shouldn’t approve uplifts for run of the mill legal work.
A judge has hit Alkaloids of Australia with a nearly $2 million penalty for engaging in cartel conduct and sentenced its former export manager to a term of imprisonment for his involvement in fixing prices for a key chemical in anti-spasmodic drug Buscopan.
Australian sports promoters TEG Live and Left Field Live have sued Scottish football team the Rangers for at least $3 million after the club allegedly backed out of a Sydney match with rival Celtic.
A judge overseeing the Montara oil spill class action has found the Federal Court’s broad discretion under the class action regime is “outflanked” by the need to give group members a chance to opt out. But resolving that question on Thursday — which has divided the courts — caused a further wrinkle ahead of a hearing to weigh a settlement in the case.
Car manufacturer Jaguar Land Rover has been hit with a class action alleging it misled drivers over vehicles fitted with defective diesel particulate filters.
The ACCC has secured its first enforcement outcome related solely to the concerted practices provisions of the competition law, in a case that shows the watchdog is willing to take action to prevent what it sees as anti-competitive practices that include sharing sensitive price information, write Gilbert + Tobin’s Jeremy Jose, Sarah Lynch and Katie Latham.