AMP shareholder class action

Settlement Approval 

On 20 August 2023, the parties to the AMP shareholder class action reached an agreement to settle the class action for the sum of $110 million inclusive of costs.

On 14 November 2023, the Supreme Court of New South Wales approved the settlement of the AMP shareholder class action. The Court was satisfied that the settlement is fair and reasonable and in the interests of group members.

At the settlement approval hearing, the Court approved the Settlement Distribution Scheme (SDS) and appointed Maurice Blackburn as Administrator. The SDS sets out the settlement administration process, including how the settlement sum is to be distributed and the steps that need to happen before any money can be paid to group members.

Next Steps 

Registered group members were sent a Trade Check Notice and Assessment Notice on or around 22 February 2024.

The time for amending the Trade Data or to seek a Review pursuant to these notices has since passed.

Group members who are eligible to receive a distribution were required to provide their bank account details via Maurice Blackburn’s secure online portal. Failure to provide bank account details to Maurice Blackburn by 21 June 2024 will result in the forfeiture of your Final Distribution Amount.

Maurice Blackburn has undertaken the final loss calculations to determine the final distribution amounts payable to group members.

Payments are being made as expeditiously as possible in tranches.

Our current best estimate is that all eligible registered group members who provided bank account details will receive their Final Distribution Amount by the end of August 2024. 

Summary of Settlement Distribution Scheme

There are several key steps that need to take place before compensation can be paid to registered group members. These key steps are established in the SDS and can be summarised as follows:

Following settlement approval, the Administrator will undertake a detailed review and analysis of registered group members’ trade data, including the substantial data that was submitted before the registration deadline.

This includes resolving any identified discrepancies, verifying data as required and determining eligibility in the class action. During this phase the Administrator may contact some registered group members to resolve identified issues or advise of ineligible registrations.

Once all trade data has been verified the Administrator will undertake loss calculations in accordance with the terms of the SDS by applying the confidential loss assessment formula to the trade data of all registered group members.

After the loss calculations are complete a Trade Check Notice and Assessment Notice will be prepared for each registered group member.

The Trade Check Notice contains the trade data from each of the holding(s) that each group member registered to participate in the class action. This is the trade data that will be used to calculate each registered group members estimated distribution from the settlement distribution fund.

If the information contained in the Trade Check Notice is inaccurate, registered group members are required under the SDS to contact the Administrator to correct any error by a specified deadline.

The Assessment Notice contains an estimate of the amounts that will be distributed to registered group members under the settlement of the class action. The estimate is indicative only and the final amount distributed to registered group members may vary from the estimate provided in the Assessment Notice, including because of any review requests received by the Administrator in accordance with the SDS.

The Assessment Notice includes provisions for registered group members to request a review if they consider that an error has been made in calculating the estimated distribution amounts included in the Assessment Notice, or if an error or omission in the trade data from the Trade Check Notice is identified. The Assessment Notice will outline the review process and will provide a specified deadline for reviews to be received by the Administrator.

Once the notices have been prepared, each registered group member will be sent via email a Trade Check Notice, an Assessment Notice, and a link to provide bank account details via a secure online portal (where the estimated distribution is greater than $0).

Payments of distributions will be made by Electronic Funders Transfer. To receive payment, each registered group member will be required to provide their bank account details via Maurice Blackburn’s secure online portal, which includes a two-step verification process.

The Administrator is unable to accept bank account details by email and failure to provide bank account details via the secure online portal by the specified timeframe will result in forfeiture of distribution amounts.

Once bank account details are received, the Administrator will undertake a number of steps to prepare for processing the payments. Once these are complete, the Administrator will process distribution payments in tranches.

At this stage, most eligible registered group members have received compensation. Once a registered group member’s payment is processed, they will be sent a remittance notice which will provide the final distribution amount paid to the registered group member.

We anticipate all Final Distribution Amounts will have been paid to eligible registered group members by late August 2024.

After all Final Distribution Amounts have been paid to eligible registered group members, if there is a Remaining Balance in the Settlement Distribution Fund, the Administrator will deal with the Remaining Balance in accordance with the SDS. 

Throughout the settlement administration, the Administrator will also manage all group member enquiries, which are likely to be significant given the large number of registered group members.

If you would like to receive a copy of the SDS or the confidential Loss Assessment Formula please contact us via email at AMPclassaction@mauriceblackburn.com.au.

Registrations now closed 

Registrations for the AMP shareholder class action have now closed in accordance with the Court ordered registration deadline of 4.00 pm (AEDT), 3 November 2023. Group members who registered for the AMP shareholder class action before that time will be contacted in due course by Maurice Blackburn. Group members who did not register for the AMP shareholder class action before that time are (subject to any contrary orders of the Court) ineligible to receive a payment from the settlement sum.

Have further questions? 

If you have any further questions regarding the settlement, please contact us at AMPclassaction@mauriceblackburn.com.au. 
 

Key documents