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‘No win-no fee’: Maurice Blackburn slashes AMP class action commission
Maurice Blackburn has announced it will carry the bulk of the cost burden for aggrieved shareholders in a class action against AMP.
Emma Musgrave
Maurice Blackburn has revealed it has joined the list of law firms to file a class action against AMP, following damning revelations at the banking royal commission which saw the financial giant accused of potential crimes, including providing false and misleading statements to the regulator and charging customers for services that were not provided.
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However unlike its competitors Maurice Blackburn noted it will conduct the class action on a “no win-no fee” basis, whereby it will rely on litigation funder International Litigation Funding Partners for the adverse costs coverage only.
“Ultimately this means participants in the Maurice Blackburn action will pay a very low 12.5 per cent commission upon any successful recovery, giving institutional investors and retail shareholders alike the same access to extraordinarily good commission rates and a potentially greater return,” the national firm said in a statement.
Maurice Blackburn national head of class actions, Andrew Watson, said that his firm’s “superdeal” provides AMP investors with a “very clear choice” on who to turn to in the pursuit of their recoveries.
“Investors have every right to be disappointed with AMP’s conduct as revealed in the Banking Royal Commission but they can now choose Australia’s leading class action law firm which has secured the nation’s largest shareholder recoveries, backed by a tried, tested and trusted funder offering exceptionally low commission rates,” Mr Watson said.
“In a world where institutional investors and retail shareholders alike are grappling with how to choose between competing actions, we’re taking the guesswork out of it and making the choice crystal clear with these extraordinarily low funding commission rates.
“In addition, we know that recovering larger amounts is one of the single biggest determinants affecting shareholders’ ultimate recoveries, and no firm other than Maurice Blackburn has resolved Australian shareholder class actions for more than $100million. I’m proud to say that, including the recent settlement of QBE for $132.5million, we’ve done it on seven separate occasions.”
The latest on the AMP debacle comes after the embattled financial giant confirmed that a claim had been filed against it by global litigation firm Quinn Emanuel and by Phi Finney McDonald — with funding from litigation funder IMF Bentham.
Slater and Gordon has also been circling AMP for a class action, telling Lawyers Weekly last week that other filings against AMP will not deter from its own shareholder litigation.
