Banking royal commission: AMP facing fourth shareholder class action

Slater and Gordon has joined the queue of class actions filed against AMP after scandals revealed at the bank inquiry.

Revelations at the banking royal commission sent AMP shares spiralling to a six-year low. Pic: Hollie Adams

AMP has been hit with a fourth shareholder class action over scandals revealed at the banking royal commission and the resulting damage to the embattled financial giant’s market value.

Law firm Slater and Gordon today said it had filed proceedings against the wealth management business in the Federal Court of Australia, adding that it will act on a no-win, no-fee basis.

AMP shares (AMP) fell 1.9pc to an almost seven-year low of $3.66 in early trade, despite a 0.3pc rise in the broader market.

AMP — which has admitted charging customers for financial advice that was never given and subsequently lying to the corporate watchdog about its behaviour — is also facing class actions from law firms Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, Phi Finney McDonald and Shine Lawyers.

There is also one potential proceeding lingering from Maurice Blackburn Lawyers, which has previously said it will charge a 12.5 per cent commission on successful completion of the case — a rate it hopes will tempt aggrieved shareholders away from competing actions.

Slater and Gordon has said that hundreds of mum and dad investors and dozens of institutions have contacted the law firm and are “rightly furious” about AMP’s conduct.

The revelations heard at the royal commission sent AMP shares spiralling to a six-year low, stripping more than $2 billion off the wealth manager’s market value.

They also triggered the departure of AMP chief executive Craig Meller and chairman Catherine Brenner.

Slater and Gordon says the class action is open to investors who acquired shares in AMP between June 7, 2012, and April 15, 2018.

AAP