ASIC

A judge overseeing a cartel case over a $2.5 billion ANZ share placement has granted ANZ’s bid for unredacted documents which the bank says will support its claims that the case should be permanently stayed because of improper dealings between whistleblower JPMorgan, ASIC and the ACCC.

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission has launched court proceedings against superannuation trustee Diversa for allegedly failing to take appropriate action in response to a financial advisor who was under investigation.

IOOF unit RI Advice has lost its bid to strike out ASIC’s novel case claiming it failed to protect its clients against cybersecurity risks, but a judge has chastised the regulator for causing “needless confusion” and “wasted time”.

Financial services provider AMP has hit back at ASIC’s civil penalty action alleging it charged super members fees for no service, saying it was not involved in its licensees’ contraventions.

A $78 million class action against National Australia Bank and Walton Construction seeking compensation for sub-contractors after the company’s collapse has halted as lawyers scramble to comply with the managed investment scheme requirements for funded class actions implemented by the Morrison government.

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission says beleaguered investment group Mayfair 101 should pay a $12 million penalty after a judge found the company misled investors about its financial products.

The founder of embattled investment group Mayfair 101, James Mawhinney, has said he received legal advice approving the company’s advertising of financial products that a court has found misled investors.

Logistics company GetSwift’s settlement of a shareholder class action will see group members share in $1.5 million cash plus access to further funds and revenue raised by the company over a three-year period.

Personal lender ClearLoans has lost its bid to strike out claims in ASIC’s first case related to the COVID-19 pandemic after a judge found the regulator’s action, which accuses the lender of breaching the hardship provisions of the credit laws, was “sufficiently clear”.

New requirements that funded class actions be run as managed investment schemes will throw up myriad new questions for the courts, with lawyers predicting novel challenges by defendants and group members and an altered landscape for competing class actions.