Business
20:36, 05-Sep-2017
Class action against Australia's biggest bank gets funder backing
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A global litigation funder said on Tuesday it would back a shareholder class action against Australia's biggest bank over alleged breaches of anti-money laundering laws.
Australia's financial intelligence agency AUSTRAC last month launched a civil case against Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA), alleging "serious and systemic non-compliance" of the laws relating to thousands of transactions.
The funder of the litigation, IMF Bentham, said the open class action, with the claim to be filed by law firm Maurice Blackburn in the Federal Court, would allege the bank neglected its disclosure obligations as a listed company.
It would also claim CBA made "misleading and deceptive public statements claiming performance... of its obligations under the (Anti-Money Laundering) Act," the litigation funding company added in a statement.
Maurice Blackburn believes it could become Australia's largest shareholder class action.
It would be open to those who bought stock in the bank, which is Australia's largest firm by market capitalization, between mid-August 2015, when Blackburn claimed the bank knew of its breaches, and last month.
CBA has more than 800,000 shareholders, with millions more holding stock through pension funds, according to this year's annual report.
The announcement came a day after a shake-up of the CBA board, with three directors set to leave and a former banker at rival Westpac, Robert Whitfield, appointed.
Following scrutiny over the AUSTRAC action, CBA said in mid-August that chief executive Ian Narev would retire by the end of the 2018 financial year.
The board shake-up followed allegations reported by Sky News last week that CBA also failed to adequately monitor billions of dollars in global transactions, potentially falling foul of international regulators.
Source(s): AFP