Five investment banks facing a class action for their alleged rigging of foreign exchange rates have slammed the “unclear” and “incredibly vague” case, saying it contains “literally trillions” of possible variations of the cartel agreement allegedly entered into.
Lawyer Alex Elliott, the son of the mastermind behind an alleged fraudulent scheme by certain members of the legal team in the Banksia class action, has resisted handing over evidence in the case against him, invoking the right to silence in the face of possible criminal charges.
The cost consultant joined as a defendant in the trial over alleged misconduct by the Banksia class action legal team has died, the second person implicated in the fee scandal to die this year.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has raised concerns about Alsco’s proposed acquisition of commercial laundry business Spotless Garments, saying the combined entity would have few large competitors.
A court has ordered comparison website iSelect to pay $8.5 million in penalties for making misleading representations through its online electricity comparison service and pushing plans to consumers that were not necessarily best suited for them.
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission has dropped its investigation into trading firm Select Vantage, which brought an unsuccessful $10 million defamation suit against the regulator.
Fifty horse owners may face cross-examination regarding adverse effects allegedly caused by Zoetis’ Hendra virus vaccine, with the company warning a four-week hearing scheduled to begin in March may be insufficient to deal with the horse owners’ evidence.
AMP has settled legal proceedings brought by a former general counsel who claims she was sacked from the wealth management firm after raising concerns about its fees for no services conduct.
The owner of Melbourne’s Barfly’s, which has been sued by its former law firm for unpaid fees relating to a $2.4 million settlement negotiated for the Flinders Street cafe in negligence proceedings, has raised questions about the nearly $1 million in fees charged by the firm and a barrister that worked on the case.
Pitcher Partners says the lead applicant in a discontinued class action over its auditing of Slater and Gordon should cover the costs for cross-claims it brought against nine parties, including the law firm and several of its former directors.