Corporate

After a win in their spat over the sale of Brazil's Santa Rita nickel mine, two Australian companies who held all shares in the mine's owner, Atlantic Nickel, may seek costs against Omni Bridgeway and Balance REV, the litigation funders of the loser in the case.

Developer Robert Filippini, who is suspected of fraudulently receiving investor money from defunct Keystone Asset Management, is seeking to appeal an extension of freezing orders over family trusts that hold property and several luxury cars.

MidOcean Energy, backed by US private equity firm EIG, has acquired Japan power company Jera's interest in  the Gorgon and Ichthys LNG projects in Western Australia.

Describing it as the most significant corporate governance action taken in his time at ASIC, the regulator's chief says the Star case is a wake-up call for directors.

The judgment in ASIC's case against Star's top executives and directors sounds a warning that board members need to proactively test information and serves as a "stark reminder" to general counsel that their duties are owed to the company, not management, experts tell Lawyerly.

The corporate regulator has filed proceedings seeking to wind up a company in the steel empire of billionaire Sanjeev Gupta for failure to lodge financial reports for four years. 

Delivering his findings on ASIC’s action against Star Entertainment executives on Thursday, Federal Court Justice Michael Lee remarked that the “self-congratulatory submissions" of former board members named in the case were "jarring”.

In finding Star Entertainment's former group general counsel liable for breaches of duty, the judge overseeing ASIC's case has questioned the chief lawyer's insistence that she "rarely gave legal advice" and that her roles with the company should be delineated.

ASIC has had mixed success in a case against former Star directors and officers, with a judge finding the casino operator’s former CEO and GC breached their duties but that claims against the former board fell short.

Mayne Pharma has launched a bid for a $13.6 million gross sum costs order against US drug maker Cosette, after winning one of numerous legal challenges over the termination of a $672 million merger agreement.