CBA Shareholder Class Action

Commonwealth Bank of Australia Shareholder
Class Action

Omni Bridgeway Limited (Formerly IMF Bentham) is funding a shareholder class action against the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX:CBA) (CBA) in respect of an alleged failure to keep shareholders properly informed regarding its non-compliance with the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act 2006 (Cth) (AML/CTF Act) during the period from 16 June 2014 and 3 August 2017 (Relevant Period).

The class action was filed on 9 October 2017 by Maurice Blackburn Lawyers on behalf of all shareholders affected by the non-disclosure by CBA.

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.

Even if you did not register in time, the Court Orders allow you to be included in the CBA Class Action as a Registered Group Member, as the mediation of the CBA Class Action in 2022 was unsuccessful and no settlement was reached prior to trial commencing in November 2022. 

You have the option to complete a Litigation Funding Agreement and Maurice Blackburn Retainer and Costs Agreement to become a Represented and Funded Claimant, should you wish to do so. This can be done by logging into the Omni Bridgeway Client Portal. To access your portal, click here.

The CBA Class Action trial (which commenced on 7 November 2022) has now concluded. Judgment is reserved. We expect this to be handed down in 2023 to early 2024.

For more information, please refer to “Register Here” button below.

Background to the class action

On 3 August 2017, the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC) brought civil penalty proceedings against CBA in the Federal Court of Australia for "serious and systemic non-compliance" with the AML/CTF Act.

Specifically, AUSTRAC alleged that CBA:

  1. did not comply with its own AML/CTF program in rolling out its Intelligent Deposit Machines;
  2. did not comply with the requirements of its AML/CTF program relating to monitoring transactions on 778,370 accounts over a period of 3 years;
  3. failed to give 53,506 threshold transaction reports to AUSTRAC on time for cash transactions of $10,000 or more made through Intelligent Deposit Machines.

Following the commencement of the proceeding by AUSTRAC and an announcement by CBA to the ASX the following day, 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%), on trading volumes more than 2.5 times greater than the preceding three month average.

Cause of Action

The class action against the CBA alleges contraventions involving engaging in misleading or deceptive conduct and/or breaching continuous disclosure obligations in relation to its non-compliance with the AML/CTF Act, information that a reasonable person would expect to have a material effect on the price or value of CBA shares.

Further details about the cause of action can be obtained by contacting Omni Bridgeway using the details below.

Current stage of case

The proceeding was filed in the Federal Court of Australia on 9 October 2017.  

The Opt Out and Registration process was between 7 April and 7 June 2022. This deadline has now passed.

There was no settlement of the claim.

The trial commenced on 7 November 2022 and has concluded. Judgment is reserved. We expect this to be handed down in 2023 to early 2024.

Key documents

You can download the following key documents below:

Opt Out and Claim Registration Notice and Opt Out Form
Opt Out and Registration Orders
Third Further Amended Statement of Claim filed by Zonia
Amended Originating Application filed by Zonia
Defence to Third Further Amended Statement of Claim filed by CBA 

How do I register in this class action?

If you wish to record your intention to participate, please press the “Register Here” button below to provide information in relation to your potential claim.

If you have any queries, you can contact the Omni Bridgeway Client Liaison Team on 1800 490 566.

FAQs

A class action is a special type of court case.  A class action is an action that is brought by one person (known as the ‘applicant’) on his or her own behalf and on behalf of a class of people (known as ‘group members’) against another person (known as the ‘respondent’), where the applicant and the group members have similar claims against the respondent.

In a class action, the applicant’s claims are used to resolve as many factual and legal issues common to the group members as possible. While the group members are represented by the applicant, it is not necessary that every group member have exactly the same type of claim. 

Class actions enable large groups of people to vindicate their legal rights without the burden or cost of commencing an individual case for each affected person. The class action process saves time and expense and allows the courts to decide issues common to all affected persons in a single case. 

There is no deadline to register.

You have the option of signing a Litigation Funding Agreement with Omni Bridgeway and a Retainer and Costs Agreement with Maurice Blackburn. You can do this by selecting the ‘Sign Agreement’ button within your Omni Portal. Please click here for more information. Alternatively, if you would like to sign these agreements, but are unable to do so through the Omni Portal, please contact us using the details provided below.

Please note: If you are an eligible group member (see question 3 above), you are not obligated to complete a Litigation Funding Agreement to be included in the CBA Class Action. If you are an eligible group member and choose not to complete a Litigation Funding Agreement, you do not need to do anything further to remain a group member in the CBA Class Action. 

The claim has been filed on an ‘open class’ basis. This means that all persons who acquired CBA shares during the relevant period are Group Members in the class action, irrespective of whether or not they have signed a Litigation Funding Agreement. However, for the reasons set out below, you are invited to sign a Litigation Funding Agreement:

1. By signing a litigation funding agreement, you will not be worse off than if you register in the class action as an open action registrant. This is because if we seek a common fund order, all group members will be charged the same commission as approved by the Court.

2. There are also added benefits to signing a litigation funding agreement with Omni Bridgeway which include:

a. Omni Bridgeway and the Lawyers will keep you up to date as the class action progresses;
b. The Omni Bridgeway client liaison team and the Lawyers are available to answer your questions;
c. Omni Bridgeway will assess your claim eligibility and estimated loss.

You must have acquired CBA shares (including through a Dividend Reinvestment Plan), any time between 16 June 2014 and 3 August 2017 (inclusive).

The Court has ordered that share trading data should be requested from potential claimants in the class action for the period between 16 June 2014 and 7 September 2017 (inclusive).

The claim has been filed on an ‘open class’ basis.  This means that all persons who acquired CBA shares during the relevant period are Group Members in the class action, irrespective of whether or not they have registered.

The CBA Class Action is being funded by Omni Bridgeway. Omni Bridgeway has agreed to pay the costs of the proceeding as it progresses in relation to the common issues. If the CBA Class Action is unsuccessful, Omni Bridgeway has agreed to meet any order requiring the Zonia Applicant to pay CBA’s costs for the CBA Class Action.

You will not become liable for any legal costs simply by remaining a group member. You will not be required to pay any upfront or out-of-pocket costs in relation to the CBA Class Action as it progresses in relation to common issues.

Please refer to 'Costs' on page 6, within the Opt Out and Claim Registration Notice for more information. If you do not have a copy of the Notice, it is available for download under Key Documents above.

Key documents

The CBA Shareholder Class Action Funding Agreement (“LFA”) contains a number of clause cross-references that appear to have defaulted to 0 when preparing the LFA in portable document format (“.pdf”). Please click here to obtain an updated version of the LFA with the correct cross-referencing. You are not required to re-execute the LFA, as the cross-referencing errors do not alter the context of the LFA or the clauses in question. Omni Bridgeway apologises for any inconvenience this may cause. Set out below is a table of cross reference corrections:

Clause Number

Cross-Reference

Clause Number

Cross-Reference

Clause Number

Cross-Reference

4.2

14

4.9

14

9.11

19

14.2

14

19.1

19

19.8

19

19.8.2

19

19.9.6

19

19.9.8

19

19.9.9

19

19.10.4

19

19.11

19

19.14

19

23.1

19

 

 

Omni Bridgeway Ltd (OBL) is the holder of Australian Financial Services Licence 557079 (“AFSL 557079”). Neither the funding of the class action by an Omni Bridgeway entity (“Omni Bridgeway”) nor the services provided by OBL in support of the class action are provided under AFSL 557079; rather OBL and Omni Bridgeway provide services and funding (respectively) to the class action on the basis that litigation funding schemes are an exempt financial product pursuant to the Corporations Regulations 2001. For the avoidance of doubt, your objectives, financial situation and needs have not been taken into account and you should consider whether the class action is appropriate for you taking any appropriate legal, financial or taxation advice you may require. Please note that neither OBL nor Omni Bridgeway is a member of the Australian Financial Complaints Authority.