- A class action has been launched against the Commonwealth Bank of Australia
- Maurice Blackburn lawyers are suing over allegations CBA funded terrorism
- Share price of Australia’s No.1 bank fell after AUSTRAC lodged court proceedings
The biggest legal class action in Australian history has been launched against the Commonwealth Bank following accusations it funded terrorism and allowed money laundering.
Lawyers Maurice Blackburn and litigation funder IMF Bentham have launched the class action on behalf of Commonwealth’s 800,000 shareholders over a big share price drop.
More than $4.5 billion was wiped from the market value of Australia’s biggest mortgage lender in early August, following revelations the federal government’s anti-money laundering agency AUSTRAC had launched legal action against it.
The Commonwealth Bank will have to deal with a class action over money laundering accusations
Maurice Blackburn’s class actions boss Andrew Watson accused the Commonwealth Bank of withholding information from shareholders.
‘It now appears that the CBA completely failed to honour its obligations to transparency and openness to its shareholders,’ he told reporters on Wednesday.
‘Our investigations and analysis show that this drop was in the top one per cent of price movements that CBA experienced in the past five years, making it apparent that the news was of material significance to shareholders.’
The Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre filed civil charges against Commonwealth Bank on August 4, and are seeking damages for a total of 53,751 financial breaches.
Ian Narev will finish as Commonwealth Bank chief executive following the laundering scandal
‘Each contravention can carry a maximum penalty of $18 million,’ a spokesman for the agency told Daily Mail Australia.
Commonwealth Bank chief executive Ian Narev announced last week he would quit at the end of June 2018, following the scandal.