A Federal Court judge has ordered Westpac to pay a $9.15 million penalty after one of its financial advisers breached the best interests duty by giving customers bad advice that resulted in millions in losses.
A beauty contest to lead a class action against Monsanto over its allegedly cancer-causing weedkiller Roundup could be on foot, with the US chemical giant now facing one class action in the Federal Court and another in the Victorian Supreme Court.
Arguing it shouldn’t be the victim of an “accident of timing”, the funder that bankrolled the landmark stolen wages class action is fighting to save a common fund order granting it 20 per cent of a $190 million settlement in the case, despite a recent High Court judgment shooting down the orders.
A judge overseeing a consolidated class action against four AMP subsidiaries and two trustees over allegedly excessive superannuation fees has ordered the respondents to coordinate after the lead applicants raised concerns about duplication of work.
Westpac is facing a class action on behalf shareholders in three countries over its alleged anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing breaches and disclosures.
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission has taken legal action against National Australia Bank alleging thousands of violations of the law through its fees for no service conduct, exposing the bank to the risk of significant penalties.
An appeals court has slashed a $450,000 judgment against law firm HWL Ebsworth to $127,000, after finding a former partner who sued the firm for unfair dismissal had not lost the opportunity to seek other employment.
The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority has flagged potentially “substantial gaps in risk governance” by Westpac as it formally kicked off an investigation into the bank and its executives for potential breaches of the Banking Act.
The judge overseeing a conflicted remuneration class action against Suncorp has allowed the class to bring an unconscionable conduct claim, but put the kibosh on the plaintiff’s use of the phrase ‘inter alia,’ saying “only I get to use Latin”.
German cladding manufacturer 3A Composites has again threatened to call for the de-classing of a class action brought over allegedly combustible cladding, slamming the case against it as “simply shambolic” and the conduct of the applicant as “utterly irresponsible”.