Abrahams v Commonwealth Bank of Australia

COURT OR TRIBUNAL

Federal Court of Australia

DATE FILED (OR FIRST HEARING DATE)

26/08/2021

LITIGATION TYPE

Access to Justice, Corporate Accountability

SUBJECT MATTER

Transparency and disclosure, Transparency and disclosure

REVIEW TYPE

N/A

SUMMARY

Guy and Kim Abrahams as trustees for the Abrahams Family Trust and shareholders in the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) filed an application in the Federal Court of Australia seeking access to internal company documents under section 247A of the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth). Documents were sought in relation to CBA’s 2019 Environmental and Social Framework and Environmental and Social Policy. On 4 November 2021, Justice Cheeseman made orders authorising the plaintiffs to inspect documents. On 13 April 2023, the proceeding was finalised with the plaintiffs being permitted to only use Annexure A documents for the purposes of: “(a) commencing any further proceedings by the plaintiffs against the defendant; and (b) providing those documents to the: (i) Australian Prudential Regulatory Authority; and (ii) Australian Securities and Investments Commission”.

CASE DOCUMENTS

Equity Generation Lawyers' website
NSD864/2021 Abrahams v Commonwealth Bank of Australia