Securities

Sydney stockbroker Adam Blumenthal has been ordered to pay close to $1 million after admitting to market rigging and breaching his duties as director of two companies — including by arranging a $7 million loan to ‘ASX Wolf’ Tyson Scholz.

Investment manager IOOF has failed to persuade a judge that the applicant in a failed shareholder class action should face indemnity costs for rejecting a $6 million offer to settle the case.

ASX-listed gourmet food company Maggie Beer has been dragged to court by the founders of Hampers & Gifts Australia over a $10 million earnout that was part of a $40 million agreement to acquire the e-commerce company in 2021. 

A former director of Noumi has won his challenge to the food manufacturer’s claim for legal professional privilege over a PricewaterhouseCoopers report commissioned by its lawyers at Ashurst, with a judge finding the company waived privilege by disclosing it to Australian Securities and Investments Commission. 

A judge has approved a group costs order in a shareholder class action against building materials giant James Hardie Industries, giving firm Echo Law a 27.5 per cent cut of any proceeds from the case.

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission has dropped its investigation into whether Nuix’s chief executive officer Jonathan Rubinsztein unlawfully bought shares in the company after learning about a potential takeover offer.

A judge has rejected Aussie Broadband’s bid to restrain internet service provider Superloop from acting on a sell order issued last month, calling the argument that Superloop issued the order for an improper purpose “a very weak” one. 

A funder that bankrolled a class action that was stayed against Dixon Advisory has argued it should receive $969,000 from a $16 million settlement reached in the competing proceedings that went ahead, saying its costs were spent to protect group members’ interests.

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission has won its first civil penalty proceeding in a greenwashing case, with a court finding against Vanguard Investments over its $1 billion “ethically conscious” hedge fund.

A judge has approved a settlement in a shareholder class action against livestock exporter Wellard that grants a 34 per cent cut for group members, saying that investors had agreed to the lawyers and funder receiving the “lion’s share”.