Chasers set sights on fresh CBA AML loot

Ian Rogers
The inevitable class action directed at Commonwealth Bank, following AUSTRAC's allegations on compliance matters and money laundering, is out of the gate.

Maurice Blackburn Lawyers are the plaintiff law firm, with litigation funder IMF Bentham putting capital at risk to progress the matter to a settlement or trial.

Andrew Watson, national head of class actions at Maurice Blackburn, is fronting the case for now, with the firm taking care to rev up the free media coverage and public relations opportunities yesterday morning.

Any investors who "purchased ordinary CBA shares during the period from 17 August 2015 to 3 August 2017 and still held some or all of those shares until after 1pm on 3 August 2017," are the target market for these legal entrepreneurs.

At this stage, Maurice Blackburn are saying they are "investigating a potential shareholder class action on behalf of aggrieved Commonwealth Bank of Australia investors who suffered losses due to the share price fall following the institution of legal proceedings by AUSTRAC against CBA."

The quantum and relevance of those losses may turn out to be as central to the case as the sufficiency of the bank's disclosure on AML matters.

Michael West, from the business commentary website of the same name, yesterday argued that this class action had hurdles to cross in relation to "evidence of a loss [which] remains tenuous for now.

"The CBA share price did not crash in the wake of the AUSTRAC revelations.

"Unlike Centro or Dick Smith - the first a huge plaintiff settlement and the second a claim now afoot - the stock did not crash to zero. The sharemarket did not deem any material damage to the bank."

The investigation, Maurice Blackburn said, "will focus on whether CBA made any misleading and deceptive statements, or breached its continuous disclosure obligations under the Corporations Act 2001 and the ASX Listing Rules, in light of recent comments by CBA Chairman Catherine Livingston, who confirmed that the Board of CBA was made aware of possible breaches of the AML/CTF Act in the second half of 2015."