Slater signs up global funder as class action suits loom against AMP

Slater and Gordon has signed up global litigation funder Therium to pursue one of three potential class actions against AMP.

Former AMP CEO Craig Meller with chairman Catherine Brenner. Pic: John Feder

Class action specialist Slater and Gordon has signed up global litigation funder Therium to help drive a potential legal suit against scandal-ridden wealth management giant AMP.

AMP was yesterday hit with the threat of three separate class action suits in the wake of shocking revelations of misconduct at the royal commission.

Class action specialists Slater and Gordon, Queensland-based Shine Lawyers and global law firm Quinn Emanuel Urquhart and Sullivan all announced yesterday they were poised to pursue the $12 billion ASX-listed AMP over the company’s alleged withholding of information from investors.

Slater and Gordon head of class actions Ben Hardwick today said the Melbourne-based law firm had partnered with Therium to investigate the class action against AMP, which is alleging the company breached its continuous disclosure obligations between 28 May 2015 and 13 April 2018.

“More than a billion dollars has been wiped from AMP’s market cap since these revelations were made public during the royal commission hearings and it has left thousands of investors reeling,” Mr Hardwick said.

“Not only did senior executives admit AMP had been charging significant fees for financial advice services it did not provide, but they also admitted the bank tried to conceal these practices by repeatedly telling ASIC they were the result of an administrative error.

“We allege that this conduct was both unlawful and unethical and reflected serious compliance problems within AMP, and the market had a right to be informed about what they were buying into.”

Kenneth Hayne

Key players

Commissioner. A former High Court judge, married to current High Court judge Michelle Gordon. During the hearings he has been tough on banks slow to cough up information required by the commission and dropped hints he is concerned about whether they have a willingness to comply with the law of the land.

Rowena Orr

Key players

Senior counsel assisting the commission. A Melbourne QC with razor-sharp cross examination skills and a background focusing on the intersection between the criminal and commercial worlds.

Philip Crutchfield

Key players

Melbourne QC representing AMP. The wealth manager is in the commission’s sights in this round of hearings, which focus on the scandal-prone financial planning sector.

Matt Collins

Key players

Melbourne QC - and president of the Victorian Bar - representing ANZ. Best known for his defamation work, including representing actress Rebel Wilson in her multi-million-dollar win over Bauer Media.

Charles Scerri

Key players

CBA’s counsel is a Melbourne QC who specialises in representing the big end of town and government agencies. The bank’s well-known track record of scandal in its financial planning business is set to get another airing at the commission.

Neil Young

Key players

NAB’s long-time go-to QC is not to be confused with the Canadian singer-songwriter of the same name - but is very much a rock star at the commercial bar.

The financial services royal commission has already carved $1bn off the company’s market capitalisation and prompted the early exit of chief executive Craig Meller.

Shares in the company fell a further 3 per cent by midday today. The stock has lost more than a quarter of its value since early March.

AMP last week admitted to charging clients fees for services they did not get and misled the corporate regulator about it 20 times. The company also admitted to manipulating a supposedly independent report into the debacle, commissioned by AMP’s board.

Chairman Catherine Brenner is facing pressure to step down for her role in the doctored report, while AMP group counsel Brian Salter has been forced to take leave. Many of the largest institutional shareholders in the country are pushing for a complete board overhaul.

Law firm Quinn Emanuel Urquhart and Sullivan said it would be ready to file a shareholder class action against the embattled finance group within 10 days. Quinn Emanuel partner Damian Scattini, who has done stints at class action specialist firms Slater & Gordon and Maurice Blackburn, said he had been investigating an action against AMP since early last month, well before revelations at the banking royal commission last week smashed its share price.

Slater and Gordon is claiming AMP should have disclosed — at the same time it told the corporate watchdog in late May 2015 — that it had for many years a regular business practice of charging financial advice customers ongoing service fees in circumstances where it knew it was not entitled to charge those fees because it was not providing any services to those customers. The law firm said the company should also have disclosed that it made “numerous false and misleading statements” to the Australian Securities & Investments Commission about the “fees for no service” issue, and that it should have disclosed that the misleading behaviour and charging of fees was due to “inadequate monitoring, reporting and governance controls, and a lack of verification procedures and proper oversight of interactions with ASIC”.

“We allege this conduct escalated and continued without being disclosed until it was ultimately revealed in the royal commission in the week commencing 16 April 2018,” Mr Hardwick said.

Investors who acquired shares in AMP at any time between May 28, 2015 and April 13, 2018, and who suffered a loss as the result of acquiring those shares, can register their interest in the Slater and Gordon class action.