A judge has signed off on a $4.7 million settlement in two investor class actions against collapsed sandalwood producer Quintis, two year after an earlier settlement was scuttled as group members kicked off an insurance dispute in pursuit of a better return.
The corporate regulator has reprimanded a liquidator for “serious” breaches of independence rules, and has directed the insolvency practitioner to refuse appointments until next year.
ASIC has brought court proceedings against wealth manager Mercer Financial Advice, alleging the company charged fees for services it did not provide and made false and misleading representations to thousands of customers.
A judge has rejected a bid by the corporate regulator to access an unredacted PricewaterhouseCoopers report commissioned by coal miner TerraCom ahead of a challenge to a decision that cleared the way for the regulator to eye the document as part of an investigation.
ASIC has won an appeal of a judge’s decision that found Gold Coast-based payday lenders Cigno and BHF did not need a licence to issue loans to hundreds of thousands of consumers.
ASIC has renewed its bid to see a PricewaterhouseCoopers report commissioned by TerraCom in order to defend the coal mining company’s appeal of a judgment that found the regulator could view the report because of public statements made by the company.
A former Sigma Healthcare executive has been sentenced to a suspended term of 14 months’ in prison after pleading guilty to trading on insider information.
Macquarie Bank has denied liability for a financial adviser’s theft of $2.9 million in customer funds, which the Australian Securities and Investments Commission alleged was caused by the bank’s failure to monitor third-party withdrawals.
The Victorian Legal Services Board and Commissioner has suspended wealth guru Dominique Grubisa’s law licence, saying she is “not entitled to engage in legal practice anywhere in Australia” and could face further regulatory action.
A judge has signed off on a $56.3 million settlement in a class action against wealth manager Colonial First State that will see Maurice Blackburn earn $14.5 million in costs, saying it was a good example of the class action regime in operation.