CRA was retained by Maurice Blackburn on behalf of plaintiffs in one of the largest security class action settlements in the Supreme Court of New South Wales in Australia. The class action was filed in 2018 against AMP, one of Australia’s leading wealth management and financial services companies. Plaintiffs alleged that AMP was the subject of examination by the Banking and Financial Services Royal Commission in April 2018 that led to the disclosure of misconduct by AMP regarding certain company polices including charging fees to customers who received no services in return. Plaintiffs also alleged that AMP withheld information from the Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) about these breaches thus violating the Australian Securities and Investments Commission Act and the Corporations Act.
Professor Mark Zmijewski, PhD, a senior consultant to CRA, conducted analyses and provided opinions on behalf of plaintiffs. More specifically, under plaintiffs’ theory of damages, Professor Zmijewski quantified the abnormal price movements in the AMP share price attributable to the alleged corrective disclosure and calculated price inflation over plaintiffs’ alleged relevant period. On August 21, 2023, the parties to the litigation reached an out-of-court settlement for AUD $110 million, one of the largest security class actions settlements in Australia. AMP made no admissions of liability. The Supreme Court of New South Wales approved the settlement on November 14, 2023.
Professor Zmijewski was supported by Keith Bockus, PhD, and a team led by Pavel Nikolov and Kevin Cuddy.
