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Frequently Asked Questions
No.
Group members are not liable for any costs.
No.
You are not required to do anything further pending the appeal.
Yes, an appeal has now been filed in the Federal Court of Australia.
As above, the legal teams for the applicants are carefully considering the judgment and have now filed a notice of appeal. Group members are not required to do anything. Any updates will be provided in due course, including in respect of the appeal.
At this stage, it is not known how long the appeal will take or when the appeal will take place. An update in respect of timing will be provided in due course.
A summary of the judgment published by the Federal Court of Australia as well as the full reasons of the judgment can be accessed here.
The judgment is lengthy and comprises several hundred pages. In deciding against the applicants’ case, his Honour made a number of findings to the effect that:
- The applicants had successfully established that CBA was ‘aware’ of all categories of alleged non-disclosed Information as at 24 April 2017 (and one category of non-disclosed information as early as October 2015).
- However, CBA was not required to disclose the Information to the market in the form pleaded by the applicants. Further, the Information in the form pleaded by the applicants was not information that a reasonable person would expect to have a material effect on the price or value of CBA shares.
- Having been unsuccessful in establishing causation, no compensable loss was suffered by the applicants (and, consequently, group members).
About this class action
Shareholders in Australia’s largest ASX-listed company suffered one of the biggest single price movements in CBA’s recent history following revelations that CBA would face legal proceedings in Federal Court, in which Australia’s financial intelligence and regulatory agency, AUSTRAC, alleged that CBA contravened the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act 2006 (Cth) (AML/CTF Act) over 53,000 times.
When news of the AUSTRAC proceeding became public, CBA’s share price fell from an intra-day high of $84.69 on 3 August 2017 to an opening price of $80.11 on 7 August 2017 (a fall of $4.58 or 5.4%) – a significant movement for an otherwise stable stock.
The class action alleges that CBA knew about serious instances of non-compliance with the AML/CTF Act and that its failure to disclose that information to the ASX amounts to misleading and deceptive conduct and a breach of its continuous disclosure obligations under the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) and the ASX Listing Rules.
On 9 October 2017, Australia’s leading class action law firm, Maurice Blackburn Lawyers, with support from litigation funding giant Omni Bridgeway, filed a shareholder class action on behalf of aggrieved Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX:CBA) investors.
The class action was filed on behalf of investors who suffered losses due to the share price fall following the institution of legal proceedings by AUSTRAC against CBA.
Case developments
Joint Conduct of Class Actions against CBA
In 2018, another class action was commenced against CBA by other applicants. Given the similarities in the issues raised in both proceedings, the Court ordered that the applicants in the two proceedings discuss the possibility of a joint approach to the conduct of the litigation. On 10 July 2019, the Court approved the applicants’ proposal for joint conduct of the litigation, and made orders to ensure that both proceedings are conducted as though they are a single proceeding.
Registration and Opt Out Orders
On 7 April 2022, the Court made orders providing that group members who had not yet signed up for the CBA Class Action may register their claims by 4.00pm AEST on 7 June 2022.
That deadline has now passed.
Even if you did not respond by the deadline, you will remain a group member in the proceeding.
Key documents
Contact Omni Bridgeway for more information about the class action
Online: Omni Bridgeway website
Call: 1800 490 566
Email: cba@omnibridgeway.com
Australian leaders in class actions.
Our reputation for excellence in class actions is unparalleled, having recovered more than $4.3 billion for clients.
We are the only Australian class actions firm to deliver $100m+ settlements to clients in shareholder and listed securities actions, which we have done on ten occasions.
Lower cost to clients
Biggest recoveries
Most experienced
Australian leaders in class actions.
Our reputation for excellence in class actions is unparalleled, having recovered more than $4.3 billion for clients.
We are the only Australian class actions firm to deliver $100m+ settlements to clients in shareholder and listed securities actions, which we have done on ten occasions.
Lower cost to clients
Biggest recoveries
Most experienced
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