Australia’s biggest bank vows to fight class action

AFP, SYDNEY: Australia’s biggest bank, the Commonwealth, vowed yesterday to fight what could become the country’s largest shareholder class action over alleged breaches of anti-money laundering laws.

The open class action, filed by law firm Maurice Blackburn and litigation funder IMF Bentham in the Federal Court in Melbourne yesterday, followed a civil case launched by Australia’s financial intelligence agency AUSTRAC in August.

AUSTRAC alleged the bank engaged in “serious and systemic non-compliance” of anti-money laundering laws involving thousands of transactions.

The class action claims CBA neglected its disclosure obligations as a listed company, hurting shareholders who bought its stock.

CBA has more than 800,000 shareholders, with millions more holding stock through pension funds, according to this year’s annual report.

In a brief statement, the bank—Australia’s largest firm by market capitalisation—said it “intends to vigorously defend this claim”.

Australias biggest bank vows to fight class action

AFP, SYDNEY: Australias biggest bank, the Commonwealth, vowed yesterday to fight what could become the countrys largest shareholder class action over alleged breaches of anti-money laundering laws. The open class action, filed by law firm Maurice Blackburn and litigation funder IMF Bentham in the Federal Court in Melbourne yesterday, followed a civil case launched by Australias financial intelligence agency AUSTRAC in August. AUSTRAC alleged the bank engaged in serious and systemic non-compliance of anti-money laundering laws involving thousands of transactions. The class action claims CBA neglected its disclosure obligations as a listed company, hurting shareholders who bought its stock. CBA has more than 800,000 shareholders, with millions more holding stock through pension funds, according to this years annual report. In a brief statement, the bankAustralias largest firm by market capitalisationsaid it intends to vigorously defend this claim.