Powered by MOMENTUM MEDIA
moneymanagement logo
 
 

Law firm claims it was legally stymied by IOOF

IOOF/Maurice-Blackburn/whistle-blowers/financial-planning/

12 March 2018
| By Mike |
image
image image
expand image

IOOF has had its recent brush with a whistle-blower squarely taken before a Parliamentary Committee with plaintiff law firm, Maurice Blackburn, citing the matter as a reason for amendments to whistle-blowing legislation.

In doing so, the law firm has argued that further legislative amendments should be implemented to protect both the whistle-blowers and their lawyers, in circumstances where it alleged IOOF had used legal tactics to restrain the law firm.

It said that alleged wrongdoers should be prevented from suing whistle-blowers or their lawyers in circumstances where the whistle-blower had provided incriminating confidential information to lawyers in litigation against the alleged wrongdoer.

“In AG Australia Holdings v Burton and Anor (2002), a whistle-blower was sued for talking to class action lawyers for shareholders in breach of a confidentiality agreement,” the Maurice Blackburn submission said. “Burton has had a chilling effect on whistle-blowers in the context of civil litigation, with lawyers understandably now very reticent to talk to whistle-blowers.”

“It is contrary to the interests of justice for wrongdoers to be protected from the consequences of unlawful behaviour in this way, and the recent IOOF matter illustrates how Burton is being abused,” the submission claimed.

“In this case, the whistle-blower sent incriminating documents to [the Australian Securities and Investments Commission] ASIC, Senators and Fairfax Media and subsequently provided these documents to Maurice Blackburn at the time when our lawyers were investigating a potential class action on behalf of shareholders in IOOF against the company for breaches of the Corporations Act,” it said.

“IOOF sued Maurice Blackburn to restrain it from acting in the class action but did not pursue the whistle-blower or Fairfax Media. It seems clear that the true purpose of the suit was to avoid the class action, or at least to frustrate it, and to increase the costs involved in its pursuit, in an attempt to mitigate IOOF’s liabilities to its shareholders.”

Read more about:

AUTHOR

Recommended for you

sub-bgsidebar subscription

Never miss the latest news and developments in wealth management industry

MARKET INSIGHTS

The succession dilemma is more than just a matter of commitments.This isn’t simply about younger vs. older advisers. It’...

3 days 3 hours ago

Significant ethical issues there. If a relationship is in the process of breaking down then both parties are likely to b...

4 weeks ago

It's not licensees not putting them on, it's small businesses (that are licensed) that cannot afford to put them on. The...

1 month ago

After last month’s surprise hold, the Reserve Bank of Australia has announced its latest interest rate decision....

4 weeks 1 day ago

ASIC has released the results of the latest adviser exam, with August’s pass mark improving on the sitting from a year ago. ...

5 days 21 hours ago

While the profession continues to see consolidation at the top, Adviser Ratings has compared the business models of Insignia and Entireti and how they are shaping the pro...

2 weeks ago

TOP PERFORMING FUNDS

ACS FIXED INT - AUSTRALIA/GLOBAL BOND