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08 March 2019
Common fund orders upheld following historic joint sitting
Less than a month after an historic joint sitting of the Full Federal Court of Australia and NSW Court of Appeal, decisions have been handed down by both Courts, confirming the validity of ‘common fund orders’ in class action proceedings. 1
25 February 2019
The ALRC’s final report on class action proceedings and third-party litigation funders
On 24 January 2019, the Commonwealth Attorney-General tabled in Parliament the Australian Law Reform Commission ( ALRC )’s final report on class action reform: Integrity, Fairness and Efficiency—An Inquiry into Class Action Proceedings and Third-Party Litigation Funders ( Report ).
03 December 2018
Casual employment and double dipping continues to take centre stage
We discussed in our previous Legal Briefing 1 the flurry of recent activity with plaintiff-focussed litigation funders and law firms instituting and threatening to commence class action claims in the mining, direct sales and marketing, and labour hire sectors over the alleged underpayment of...
30 October 2018
Employment class actions threaten to disrupt employers and unions alike
Over the past decade at least, many businesses have become alert to the burgeoning trend of class action law suits in Australia. Class actions, for example, have been commonly used to litigate shareholder actions and product liability claims. But until recently, they have been rarely used in the...
10 September 2018
Class Action Assault on UK PLCs for Acts of Subsidiaries
A recent trio of decisions 1 from the Court of Appeal of England and Wales has provided insight into the circumstances in which an English-domiciled company may be held liable in negligence to individuals affected by the acts of its overseas subsidiaries.
11 July 2018
How can in-house lawyers tackle the increasing threat of class actions in the English Courts?
Class actions represent an increasing area of risk for UK corporates, with increasing numbers of high-profile and highvalue group claims being brought, or threatened to be brought, in the English courts. The principal mechanism used to litigate these claims differs from the ‘opt-out’ class action...
26 June 2018
Our new book launched today: Class Actions in England and Wales
Herbert Smith Freehills has today launched a new textbook, Class Actions in England and Wales . Written by lawyers from the firm and published by Sweet and Maxwell, it aims to become an essential resource for those bringing or defending class actions in the English courts. Class actions have become...
28 May 2018
Competing Class Actions: Permanent Stays and Claim Selection
The recent decision of the Federal Court of Australia in GetSwift to permanently stay 2 out of 3 competing class action claims and to select the claim allowed to go forward represents a significant development in class action litigation in Australia.
15 March 2018
Class Actions and Litigation Funding
Class actions place an enormous burden on corporate Australia and the growth of the country’s sophisticated third party litigation funding market has been controversial. Over recent years, various law reform bodies have examined whether the returns made by funders and the fees charged by plaintiffs...
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02 July 2019
Open Innovation and Collaboration
Over this last year we have been talking to our clients about open innovation – what approach do they take – how "open" can it be – how are innovation and collaboration processed and structured – is "ownership" still an important factor - what issues are there in collaborating with partners from...
25 June 2019
The view from Brussels - Can the Backstop be Renegotiated?
Both candidates to be leader of the Conservative Party, and therefore to be UK Prime Minister, have vowed to renegotiate the Withdrawal Agreement and in particular the Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland. Meanwhile in Brussels, the EU-27 (meeting in Euro summit format) has just reiterated, again,...
25 June 2019
AVMS Directive: To implement or not to implement? That is the question
There is no doubt that the likelihood of a “no-deal” Brexit continues to grow. Against this backdrop, the UK Government has issued a Consultation Document setting out its proposed approach to implementing legislative amendments to the EU’s Audiovisual Media Services Directive (“ AVMSD ”) into...
24 June 2019
MAS extends AML/CFT requirements to Payment Service Providers
On 6 June 2019, the Monetary Authority of Singapore ( MAS ) issued a Consultation Paper on proposed anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism ( AML/CFT ) requirements which will apply to most payment service providers ( PS Providers ). Submissions close on 5 July 2019. The...
20 June 2019
Corporate Crime Update, Spring 2019
Welcome to the Spring 2019 edition of our corporate crime update - our round up of developments in relation to corruption, money laundering, fraud, sanctions and related matters. Our update now covers a number of jurisdictions. For the full update on each jurisdiction, please click read more for...
19 June 2019
SFC encourages the industry to keep in mind the ‘spirit’ of the new Internal Investigation Disclosure Requirement introduced to halt the ‘roll’ of ‘bad apples’
On 17 June 2019, Ms Julia Leung (Deputy Chief Executive Officer, Intermediaries) and Mr Wilson Lo (Senior Director, Licensing) discussed the recent initiative by the Securities and Futures Commission ( SFC ) to halt the ‘roll’ of ‘bad apples’ within the financial services industry at the 2019 SFC...
11 June 2019
Product Intervention Powers and Design and Distribution Obligations in Financial Services: A cross-border perspective
Many regulators view their ability to intervene as one of their key supervisory tools to reduce harm in cases where there is a risk of significant consumer detriment or threat to financial markets.
07 June 2019
NSW security of payment reform update: what you need to know
In November 2018, significant amendments to NSW’s security of payment legislation, the Building and Construction Industry Security of Payment Act 1999 (NSW) (the Act ) passed into law. 1 Our previous article described those amendments.
06 June 2019
Zambia lured by the siren song of resource nationalism
Zambia, the world’s seventh-largest copper producer, is the latest leading African mining jurisdiction to succumb to the siren song of resource nationalism. In recent years this trend has seen international miners and their host governments in Tanzania and the Democratic Republic of Congo clash...
