Regulators

The Commonwealth Bank has failed again to dismiss a case brought by customers who claim they were the victims of a money laundering scam known as cuckoo smurfing and had funds seized as proceeds of crime.

A former law firm partner has lost his scrap with the Australian Taxation Office over exit payments he received on retirement, with a court ruling his $180,000 payout could not be offset against repayments made to the partnership’s capital account. 

ASIC has won orders declaring that Gold Coast-based BHF Solutions and Cigno needed a credit licence to issue loans to hundreds of thousands of customers, after the High Court tossed a challenge by the payday lenders.            

A judge has approved a $450 million penalty put forward by Crown Resorts and AUSTRAC despite reservations about evidence going to the casino operator’s financial position.

The judge asked to approve a proposed $450 million penalty in AUSTRAC’s case against Crown Resorts has questioned whether the practice of regulators settling enforcement action ahead of trial gave rise to a “moral hazard” problem.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has set its sights on data brokers such as Equifax and Corelogic amid concerns about harms to consumers from their information collecting practices.

Monster Energy has lost a trade mark tiff with American broadcaster A&E Television, with IP Australia giving the media company the all-clear to register a mark for its ‘Monster Motor Challenge’ TV series. 

Retail broker Openmarkets has paid the largest ever penalty handed down by ASIC’s markets disciplinary panel, with the regulator also banning its former trading head for three years.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has brought proceedings against carpark operator Secure Parking, claiming its duped customers in major cities with its misleading car reservation service.

Select AFSL, its related entities and its director have been slapped with $13.6 million in penalties after a judge found that the life insurer used unconscionable phone sales tactics to “wear down” often vulnerable consumers, including migrants and Indigenous communities.