Mayfair 101 taken to court over allegedly misleading financial advertisements

An Australian investment group has been taken to the Federal Court by the corporate watchdog over allegedly misleading and deceptive online advertisements. The Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) alleges Mayfair 101, a property investor with a significant portfolio of land and tourism assets in North Queensland inc...

Slater & Gordon files class action against Treasury Wine Estates

Treasury Wine Estates (ASX: TWE) is now facing its second class action over a profit downgrade earlier this year when its earnings forecast was slashed by 10 percentage points. Following a similar action from Maurice Blackburn, law firm Slater & Gordon (ASX: SGH) alleges the information could have been uncorked earlier. &quot...

Cash Converters settles class action for $42.5 million

Nearly 70,000 Queensland Cash Converters customers will share in the spoils of a $42.5 million class action settlement. The Federal Court approved the settlement on Tuesday following a successful class action brought by Maurice Blackburn Lawyers that will benefit those affected by Cash Converters' alleged breach of credit laws. Ac...

Qantas to back pay millions of dollars to hundreds of staff

Listed airline Qantas (ASX: QAN) has signed a Court-Enforceable Undertaking (EU) with the Fair Work Ombudsman (FWO) requiring it to repay staff for entitlements not paid. The EU is the result of an FWO investigation and could see hundreds of staff being back paid millions of dollars. The FWO investigation arose after Qantas self-repor...

$213m settlement ends "agonising wait" for PFAS contamination victims

A landmark $212.5 million settlement has delivered justice to thousands of victims of toxic firefighting equipment contamination across the country. As reported by the Sydney Morning Herald, the federal Department of Defence settled a class action lawsuit on Monday, giving closure to victims of carcinogenic per- and poly-fluoroalkyl ...

ACCC will not appeal TPG-Vodafone merger decision

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has concluded it will not appeal the Federal Court's decision that approved the merger of two of Australia's largest telcos. In February the Federal Court ruled in favour of a $15 billion merger of TPG Telecom (ASX: TPM) and Vodafone, determining the merger would not reduce...

Shine launches class action against IOOF

Financial services provider IOOF (ASX: IFL) is facing its second class action over alleged corporate misconduct, this time from law firm Shine. Shine Lawyers alleges shareholders suffered losses as a result of non-disclosure by IOOF as well as potentially misleading and deceptive conduct affecting purchasers of IOOF shares. The allega...

Court gives green light to $15 billion TPG-Vodafone merger

Australia's competition watchdog laments the loss of a "once-in-a-generation opportunity" for mobile consumers, but the Federal Court sees TPG rolling out its own network as a lost cause and is in favour of establishing a viable contender through a merger to take on Telstra and Optus, even if it leads to greater market conc...

Rural Funds triumphs over short seller Bonitas in Supreme Court

The Supreme Court of New South Wales has handed down a judgement in favour of Rural Funds Group (ASX: RFF), finding US-based short seller Bonitas made false and misleading statements. The proceedings, launched in September 2019, relate to a short selling report published by Bonitas in August of the same year which saw the shares in Rural ...

Shine prepares another class action against AMP

Financial planning firm AMP (ASX: AMP) is staring down the barrel of yet another class action. Shine Lawyers (ASX: SHJ) announced this morning that it was preparing to file its second class action against AMP, accusing the company of putting profits ahead of an estimated 100,000 clients. The law firm alleges AMP Financial Planning bre...

Kleenmaid founder sentenced to nine years imprisonment

Andrew Young, a former director and founder of whitegoods distributor Kleenmaid, has been sentenced to nine years in jail for offences arising from the company's collapse more than a decade ago. Young was found guilty of 20 breaches of the law by a jury for offences including fraud and insolvent trading after a 59-day trial. His n...

Maurice Blackburn cracks open fresh case against Treasury Wine Estates

Class action law firm Maurice Blackburn has uncorked another investigation into Treasury Wine Estates (ASX: TWE), after poor US performance prompted a drastic cut to the company's FY20 forecast.  The move follows a successful class action against the Melbourne-headquartered vintner in 2017 that led to a $49 million settlment...

Westpac hit with US class action lawsuit

New York-based law firm Rosen Law Firm has filed a class action lawsuit against big four bank Westpac (ASX: WBC; NYSE: WBK) over the AUSTRAC scandal. The lawsuit seeks to recover damages for investors in the US on behalf of purchasers of Westpac securities on the New York Stock Exchange between November 11, 2015, and November 19, 2019 inc...

Gadens mulls iSignthis class action

National law firm Gadens is investigating a possible class action against payment identity verifier iSignthis (ASX: ISX), adding salt to the wounds of a company that has been suspended from trading since October and has a court case of its own pending against the ASX. The Melbourne-based fintech founded and led by CEO John Karantzis has c...

Macquarie staff and CEO in German short selling probe

Up to 60 current and former Macquarie staff including CEO Shemara Wikramanayake (pictured) have been confirmed as suspects in a German investigation into historical short-selling activities. As reported by the ABC, the investigation revolves around a legal loophole called "cum-ex trades" where two parties claim ownership of the ...

Colonial First State hit with class action over alleged excessive insurance premiums

Commonwealth Bank (ASX: CBA) subsidiary Colonial First State is now facing its third class action lawsuit as Shine Lawyers follows in the footsteps of Maurice Blackburn and Slater & Gordon. The law firm alleges customers were slugged excessive insurance premiums. Shine alleges on behalf of "thousands of Australians" that...

Class action launched against NAB alleging superannuation "rip off"

More than 330,000 account holders at National Australia Bank (ASX: NAB) will be represented in a class action lawsuit against the banking giant, alleging customers were paying more than they should have in fees. The class action, filed in the Victorian Supreme Court by law firm Maurice Blackburn this morning, has been launched on behalf o...

Trivago misled travellers by promoting more expensive hotels

Hotel comparison site Trivago has been found by the federal court to have misled consumers by promoting hotels that pay for the coveted top spot on the platform. If you've seen the endless ads run by Germany-based Trivago on TV or online, you'll know their prerogative is to help customers find the cheapest hotel rate possible. ...

Smoothie Bombs' 'cybersquatting' case is a lesson for every business owner

In this modern era, having a good product and a strong sales plan in place is just one part of the equation for retail success. As marketing, sales, promotion and products are more online than ever before, ensuring your intellectual property is in place and sufficiently protected is essential. One Australian founder learned this the h...

Former Guvera CEO banned from managing companies

Darren Herft, the former CEO of music streaming platform Guvera, has been banned from managing corporations for a period of two years by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC). Herft's ban follows the failure of four companies within the Guvera group which collapsed in June 2017. Guvera was founded in 2008 by ...

Domino's to be served with fresh Federal Court claim by franchisee

Brisbane-based Domino's Pizza Enterprises (ASX: DMP) and its high-profile managing director Don Meij (pictured) will soon be served with a claim in the Federal Court by one of their long-term franchisees. As reported by The Courier Mail, the franchisee in question is Perth-based fast-food veteran Frederick Aloysius Mario White. Wh...

Blackbook.ai and IRIQ Law build AI legal advisor

Like seeing the dentist, booking an appointment with a doctor, or finding time to get your computer fixed, hiring a lawyer is often pushed into the Too Hard Basket. Complicated legalese, the looming bills, and the simple fact of time often intimidate many into simply moving on with life despite there being a good chance that a lawyer coul...

Volkswagen slammed with record $125 million penalty

German car manufacturer Volkswagen has been ordered to pay $125 million in penalties by the Australian Federal Court after breaching consumer law by making false or misleading representations. Volkswagen's $125 million fine is the largest total penalty order ever made by the Federal Court for contraventions of Consumer Law. The pe...

Phi Finney McDonald launches class action against Westpac

Westpac's (ASX: WBC) alleged 23 million contraventions of the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act (AML/CTF Act) continue to give the bank a pounding migraine. AUSTRAC's investigation into Westpac has fuelled the ire of shareholders, and Phi Finney McDonald will represent them in a class action against the big ...

NAB could face multi-billion dollar fine over alleged fees for no service conduct

The Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) isn't going easy on National Australia Bank (ASX: NAB) this holiday season. The watchdog announced yesterday that it has taken the big four bank to court over alleged fees for no service (FFNS) conduct, uncovered initially during the Royal Commission into the banking and finan...

Oscar Wylee accused of misleading customers about donating glasses to charity

Youth-leaning eyewear company Oscar Wylee has been taken to the Federal Court by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) for allegedly misleading customers. The allegations revolve around a campaign run by Oscar Wylee during which the eyewear company said it would donate a pair of glasses to someone in need every time a ...

Federal Government to crack down on tech giants

A $27 million investment into the ACCC and a brand new code of conduct are part of the Federal Government's raft of reforms intended to crack down on unregulated American tech giants. The reforms come in response to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission's (ACCC) Digital Platforms Inquiry, which slammed tech heavyweigh...

Supreme Court sets aside statutory demand against Smiles Inclusive

Within a week of having a major suit against it dropped, dental care company Smiles Inclusive (ASX: SIL) is today claiming victory in another legal matter. This morning the Supreme Court of Queensland set aside a statutory demand served by the former owners of Sydney-based Future Care Mobile Dentistry (FCMD), who sold their busi...

Coles to pay Norco dairy farmers $5.25 million after allegedly misleading consumers

Norco Co-operative Limited (Norco) dairy farmers will receive $5.25 million from Coles (ASX: COL) after the supermarket giant failed to pass on a 10c per litre price rise. The payment to Norco follows an investigation by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) into whether Coles fully passed on to Norco a 10c per litre p...

Criminal charges laid against former BCU CEO

A former director and CEO of credit union BCU could face up to 10 years in jail if found guilty of criminal charges made against him by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC). Lyndon Allen Kingston (pictured) was an executive - first as CFO and then CEO - at Coffs Harbour-based BCU for nine years and was a senior...