Regulators

A judge has expressed concern that a “bizarre” last-minute settlement in a long-running case against the CFMEU could damage the public perception of the FWO as a model litigant, saying it could appear that the ombudsman treated some perpetrators as “more equal” than others. 

A subsidiary of hospitality giant Mantle Group has failed to set aside a Fair Work Commission decision finding it systematically underpaid employees and gave “knowingly false” evidence, with an appeals court refusing to find the decision gave rise to the appearance of bias.

Australians who sank $21.2 million into crypto firm NGS Crypto, including their retirement savings, may have been misled about the safety of their investments, according to an investigation by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission.

The founder of ASX-listed bottled water company Eneco Refresh has been slapped with an 18-month suspended sentence after pleading guilty to market manipulation.

 Macquarie Bank has agreed to pay a $10 million fine in proceedings brought ASIC after the bank admitted that it failed to monitor third-party withdrawals, resulting in a financial adviser’s theft of $2.9 million.

The corporate regulator is appealing a judgment that tossed its landmark action against Austo & General Insurance, saying the judge erred in construing an unclear and disproportionate term in the insurer’s house and contents policy.

Clorox has been taken to court for alleged greenwashing, with the ACCC claiming the consumer goods giant misled customers into believing that a line of its GLAD trash bags were sourced from plastic recycled from the ocean.

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.

ASIC chair Joe Longo has called on lawyers to be bold in their embrace of emerging technologies, saying lawyers “must be careful with generative AI but not afraid of it”. 

In a win for the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, a judge has found that payday lender Sunshine Loans charged thousands of customers prohibited fees, issuing a scathing judgment condemning the company’s “wrongheaded” conduct.