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Commercial Disputes AU
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September 07, 2026
Corporate Travel, PwC Face Phi Finney McDonald-Led Suit
Phi Finney McDonald said it is "well advanced" in a class action proposal against Corporate Travel Management and it's former auditor PwC Australia for allegedly misleading investors in its financial reports after the company admitted to an overcharging scandal and it's shares sunk on return to the ASX this month.
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September 07, 2026
Lawyers, Funder Seek $21.7M Cut Of $29M AMP Advisers Deal
Shine Lawyers, Piper Alderman and litigation funder Woodsford are seeking up to $21.75 million from a proposed $29 million class action settlement against AMP-linked financial advisers who allegedly recommended AMP insurance products to customers over cheaper alternatives, potentially leaving class members with only a quarter share of the deal.
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September 07, 2026
Ex-ASIC Deputy Kell To Review Banking Code And Watchdog
Former ASIC deputy chair Peter Kell will head an independent review into the banking code of practice and its oversight by the Banking Code compliance committee.
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September 04, 2026
ASIC Probing Hundreds Of Big Four Internal Audit Complaints
ASIC is reviewing more than 550 internal complaints about audit work across the Big Four professional services firms, Chair Sarah Court told a parliamentary committee on Friday, and said it's expanding its probe into KPMG Australia around possible false or misleading information in its transparency reports.
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September 04, 2026
KPMG Denied Privileged Expert Docs In Arrium Class Action
The Victorian Supreme Court judge overseeing a shareholder class action alleging mining company Arrium Ltd issued misleading financial reports has rejected auditor KPMG's bid to access draft versions of a plaintiffs' expert report, saying the shareholders hadn't waived legal privilege over those drafts.
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September 04, 2026
Diversa Says Fraud Sank First Guardian, Gov. Should Repay
Diversa Trustees Chair Vincent Plant told a parliamentary committee on Friday that the fund trustee were "not clairvoyants" and could not have foreseen the alleged fraud behind the collapse of the First Guardian Master Fund, arguing it met its duties despite members' $240 million losses.
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September 04, 2026
ACCC Chair Says 80% Of Mergers Cleared in 20 Days
ACCC Chair Gina Cass-Gottlieb says the competition regulator's new merger control regime has met and surpassed its goal of approving around 80 percent of mergers within 20 business days by early Phase 1 determinations or the notification waiver process, nine months after its implementation.
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September 03, 2026
ACCC Gives Final Approval To Epic Games, Google Settlement
The ACCC has given final approval to the settlement between Google and Epic Games in the competition lawsuit launched after Google kicked the Fortnite game from its Play Store after Epic launched its own app payment system.
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September 03, 2026
KPMG Sued By Sacked Ex-COO After Whistleblower Scandal
Eileen Hoggett, the sacked auditor at the centre of the KPMG whistleblower scandal, has filed legal proceedings against her former employer in a NSW Supreme Court on Thursday weeks after telling a parliamentary committee she was still trying to "understand the basis of my expulsion from the firm."
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September 03, 2026
Optus, Google, Meta Join AFCA Ahead of Scam Dispute Role
The Australian Financial Complaints Authority has added over 100 new members including major telecommunications firms like Optus and digital platforms including Meta, TikTok and Google ahead of its expanded role handling scam disputes from March next year.
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September 03, 2026
Beacon Minerals Exec Sentenced For Tipping Friends on Gold Find
Beacon Minerals' former project manager Alexander McCulloch was sentenced to 12 months' imprisonment for insider trading after he told two friends to buy 11 million Beacon Mineral shares while he had confidential information showing promising gold drilling results at a project.
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September 03, 2026
APRA Slaps ING With Licence Conditions on Liquidity Errors
ING Australia has been hit with additional licence conditions and a $50 million operational risk capital add-on from APRA due to "significant overstatement" in its liquidity coverage ratio (LCR) which the bank self-reported, the regulator said in a statement on Thursday.
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September 03, 2026
Banned Auditor Sentenced For Falsifying Reports By ASIC
A disqualified self-managed superannuation fund auditor has been sentenced to 60 hours of unpaid community service by the Melbourne Magistrates Court after he admitted to auditing funds and falsifying documents while prohibited by ASIC.
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September 02, 2026
Blue Sky Class Action Must Post $1.9M In Security, Use AI
A Federal Judge has ordered a class action led by R&B Investments to put up a $680,000 security to Blue Sky Alternative Investments and $1.28 million security to Ernst & Young for future and past legal costs in a suit alleging Blue Sky, its former directors and auditors EY overestimated its assets under management and investment performance, while also calling for AI use to simplify the dispute.
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September 02, 2026
Government to Shield Robodebt Class Settlements From Tax
The federal government will introduce new legislation and regulations to exempt Robodebt class action settlements from tax, income testing and compensation recovery arrangements to ensure victims receive the full amount.
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September 02, 2026
Pengana Asks Takeovers Panel To Block WAM Stake Raise
Fund manager Pengana Capital has applied to the Takeovers Panel to block Geoff Wilson's Wilson Asset Management (WAM) from raising its stake in Pengana's international equities fund, citing disclosure and conflict of interest failures around a July share buy-back.
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September 01, 2026
Clifford Chance Can Arbitrate $3.5M Congo Fee Dispute
An Australian judge on Tuesday denied Equatorial Resources Ltd.'s attempt to block its former counsel at Clifford Chance LLP from seeking arbitration over a roughly $3.46 million unpaid legal bill, incurred as the mining company pursues a claim worth up to $1.9 billion against the Republic of Congo.
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September 02, 2026
ACCC Clears Kimberly-Clark Kenvue Deal On Period-Care Sale
The ACCC has approved personal care product company Kimberly-Clark's acquisition of Kenvue on the condition it sells Kenvue's Australian period-care brands Carefree and Stayfree to an approved buyer on competition concerns.
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September 01, 2026
Panel Extends Forrestania Zenith Bid On Disclosure Lapses
The federal Takeovers Panel ordered gold mining company Forrestania Resources to extend the deadline for its bid to buy gold and lithium producer Zenith Minerals, after it issued a "declaration of unacceptable circumstances" last week citing disclosure failures.
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September 01, 2026
ACCC Calls For Stronger Product Safety Laws For Online Marketplaces
The ACCC has called for stronger product safety laws, including mandatory obligations on online marketplaces, warning existing Australian Consumer Law has failed to keep pace with the growth of online shopping and is exposing consumers, including children, to unsafe goods.
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September 01, 2026
SPC Sues Ex-Chair Alleging Fund Misuse, Seeks $4.5M
Food manufacturer SPC Global has filed a second lawsuit against its former chair, his investment firm and a former board member in the Victoria Supreme Court, alleging they breached directors' duties by misusing company funds related to the sale and leaseback of a Shepparton factory with SPC seeking recovery of more than $4.5 million.
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September 01, 2026
CashnGo Hit With $3.5M Penalty Over Unfair Loan Terms
A Federal Court judge on Monday ordered Venture 5 Group, which trades as short-term money lender CashnGo Australia, to pay $3.5 million for using and relying on unfair terms in credit contracts to consumers seeking access to small sums of money on an urgent basis.
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September 01, 2026
AUSTRAC To Probe Western Union's High-Risk Payments
AUSTRAC has launched an investigation into Western Union over concerns the global payments provider has failed to adequately manage money laundering and terrorism financing risks linked to high-risk payment channels and customers.
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August 31, 2026
Judge Wants Faster, Leaner Commercial Court In Victoria
High Court Justice Michelle Gordon AC has called for fewer interlocutory disputes and faster judgments in Victoria's Commercial Court, arguing courts and practitioners must foster a legal culture in which commercial litigation is not reduced to "a game of procedural attrition."
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August 31, 2026
Ex-RAMS Franchisees Told To Rein In Sprawling Class Action
A Federal Court judge in Sydney on Monday urged former franchisees of RAMS Home Loans to simplify their class action accusing RAMS of improperly terminating their franchise deals, saying trial risked becoming "unnecessarily unwieldy."
NSW Chief Justice Warns AI Could Widen Legal Access Gaps
NSW Chief Justice Andrew Bell said he fears there is a digital divide between large firms that can afford specialised AI and the rest of the legal sector unable to keep up with the pace of change.
Contradictor To Weigh Mayweathers, Omni Bridgeway Fees
A New South Wales Supreme Court judge has appointed a contradictor to weigh in on the split of a tentative $18 million settlement in a class action over homes damaged by land subsidence, after raising concerns about a large cut of the deal going to lawyers Mayweathers and litigation funder Omni Bridgeway.
ACCC Eyes Extension Of Qantas, American Airline Alliance
The ACCC said it is considering granting an extension of the alliance between Qantas and American Airlines on trans-Pacific routes in a draft determination on Friday.
NSW Chief Justice Warns AI Could Widen Legal Access Gaps
NSW Chief Justice Andrew Bell said he fears there is a digital divide between large firms that can afford specialised AI and the rest of the legal sector unable to keep up with the pace of change.
Contradictor To Weigh Mayweathers, Omni Bridgeway Fees
A New South Wales Supreme Court judge has appointed a contradictor to weigh in on the split of a tentative $18 million settlement in a class action over homes damaged by land subsidence, after raising concerns about a large cut of the deal going to lawyers Mayweathers and litigation funder Omni Bridgeway.
ACCC Eyes Extension Of Qantas, American Airline Alliance
The ACCC said it is considering granting an extension of the alliance between Qantas and American Airlines on trans-Pacific routes in a draft determination on Friday.
Editor's Picks
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Non-Profit ACCR Drops Santos Greenwashing Appeal
The Australasian Centre for Corporate Responsibility has withdrawn its appeal against a Federal Court of Australia judgment dismissing a landmark greenwashing case the non-profit brought against oil and gas company Santos Ltd over its voluntary climate disclosures in 2021.
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Law Firm Drops 'Deposit Flicking' Case After Media Attention
Law firm Agency Settlements has discontinued its case against the founder of conveyancing firm Dott & Crossitt, Jared Zak, and agreed to pay costs over his allegations that it engaged in "deposit flicking," citing media coverage of the matter driving such rapid growth that it could no longer substantiate specific losses, director Lucas McEntee said in a statement to Law360 on Thursday.
Expert Analysis
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Practice Leader Insights From Phi Finney's Joel Phibbs
Joel Phibbs, Phi Finney's anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing practice lead, discusses the approach of banks when dealing with compliance, the challenges of delays in getting cases to trial, and why financial bodies' regulatory burden and the desire to lower costs using artificial intelligence seem like a recipe for major problems in the future.
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Practice Leader Insights From HSF Kramer's Andrew Bradley
Andrew Bradley, leader of HSF Kramer's financial services regulatory practice in Australia, discusses managing mental health while working on a complex matter, the glaring need for further reform in the financial advice sector, and why this practice area may be the most dynamic and intellectually stimulating.
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Blue Star Shows Why Liquidators Need Approval Rule Reform
The recent Queensland Supreme Court decision in Blue Star Care v. Rimcroft highlights the uncertainty surrounding Section 477(2B) of the Corporations Act court approvals regime, meaning that until outright reform is implemented liquidators must make unsatisfactory choices between what is safe and what is in creditors’ best interests, says Robert True at Quinn Emanuel.
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Australia's Computer Patent Ruling Will Aid Global Companies
While courts around the world have struggled to articulate a technology-neutral test for patentability of computer-implemented inventions, a recent decision by Australia's top court offers a decisive answer, creating strategic opportunities for overseas applicants, say attorneys at Mallesons.
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Decoding Arbitral Disputes: ICSID Enforcement In Australia
The Federal Court of Australia recently ruled for award creditors in Blasket Renewable Investments v. Spain in a judgment that explains how Australia's statute book operationalizes the promise of depoliticized enforcement under the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes Convention while accommodating, without yielding to, the centrifugal forces of European Union law, says Josep Galvez at 4-5 Gray's Inn.