Commonwealth Bank of Australia

The Case

Therium is funding a class action on behalf of shareholders of the Commonwealth Bank of Australia Ltd. The shareholders’ case alleges breaches by the Bank between 2014 and 2017 of its continuous disclosure obligations, primarily relating to alleged breaches of the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act 2006. In a case brought against the Bank by an Australian regulator, the Bank admitted to these breaches and agreed to pay a AUS $700m penalty.

Why It’s Significant

Therium’s class action is running alongside another class action brought against the Bank, with both law firms acting on a co-operative basis. The combined class actions have been brought on behalf of a large number of domestic and international financial institutions who have suffered significant losses.

Therium’s Solution

The case is a good example of well-resourced financial institutions using litigation finance in preference to their own capital in order to vindicate their legal rights and recover their losses.