Cupping a Whupping - ASIC v Insurance Australia Limited [2023] FCA 724

Check out my recent video presentation entitled "Cupping a Whupping - ASIC v Insurance Australia Limited [2023] FCA 724" in which I look at the Federal Court penalty decision of Abraham J which resulted in a total pecuniary penalty of $40 million for 1 million plus breaches of the ASIC Act. The case involved the use a Cupping Mechanism, or algorithm, which recalculated and increased the base premiums on 705,000 policies before Discounts were applied, so as to charge NRMA customers higher premiums on renewal. The maximum penalty which could have been imposed for the breaches was at least $1.976 trillion (ie $1.8 million x 1,098,000 breaches). Surprisingly, ASIC submitted and the Court found that IAL had "no intent to mislead" when implementing the Cupping Mechanism.

Run time 25 mins

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Australian Business Law Review, Vol 51, Part 2

 ABLR Vol 51, Part 2 is out. This edition features three excellent contributions, two of which are essential reading for all Australian competition/antitrust lawyers:

* Australian Cartel Law: Recent Developments – First Set of Two Sets – Brent Fisse

* ADR and Industry Resolution Schemes: The Issue of Conciliator Accreditation – Kathy Douglas

* Book Review - Current Issues in Competition Law – Volume I: Context and Interpretation, edited by Michael Gvozdenovic and Stephen Puttick - reviewed by Nicholas Felstead

Brent's article is the first instalment of a two article treatment of recent developments in Australian cartel law.

I would again like to encourage prospective authors to consider submitting their articles to the ABLR. One significant advantage of seeking to publish your article in the ABLR is our much quicker turnaround times compared to other leading legal journals. We aim to publish practical business law articles on topical issues in a timely manner, which means we have to operate on shorter time frames.

Michael Terceiro
General Editor
Australian Business Law Review

The Fraudster Maltster - Viterra Malt Pty Ltd v Cargill Australia Limited 2023 VSCA 157

Check out my recent video presentation entitled "The Fraudster Maltster - Viterra Malt Pty Ltd v Cargill Australia Limited 2023 VSCA 157" which looks at the recent Victorian Supreme Court of Appeal decision which awarded Cargill Australia total damages and interest of almost $300 million for the Viterra practices. Issues discussed include the enforceability of exclusion and disclaimer clauses and the appropriate measure of damages in the context of successful Australian Consumer Law and deceit claims.