Financial advisory firm IOOF is facing a class action from its backers.
Represented by law firm Shine Lawyers, shareholders are seeking to recover losses related to alleged non-disclosures and potentially misleading and deceptive conduct.
The lawsuit claims that this affected the purchase of IOOF shares between 1 March 2014 and 7 July 2015.
Reports regarding potential misconduct first appeared in local media in June 2015, followed by a series of senate hearings in the following two months, and in the Royal Commission in 2018, Shine said.
“It is alleged that by failing to disclose alleged corporate misconduct within IOOF between 1 March 2014 and 7 July 2015, the company breached its continuous disclosure obligations and/or engaged in misleading and deceptive conduct,” the law firm added.
Share price drop
According to the 2015 media reports, the allegations mainly relate to the financial advisory firm’s research department, which served IOOF’s dealer network, managed and superannuation funds.
“As of mid-February 2020, IOOF is trading at A$7.05 (£3.58, $4.65, €4.28), almost 34% below its share price immediately prior to the Sydney Morning Herald articles published on 20 June 2015,” according to the law firm.
The class action will be funded by LLS Fund Services, subject to sufficient shareholder interest.
Shine Lawyers has been working on similar lawsuits lately; including one against bank AMP and another against Colonial First State Investments.
International Adviser could not get hold of an IOOF spokesperson for comment.
