Be good to put this to bed once & for all.
Wish I had studied law they make $$$ no matter what happens.
Cheers
Hotlegs
New Centro 'not liable' for class action
February 24, 2012
JUST TWO weeks before the start of an epic class action over Centro Properties' 2007 accounting debacle, the Federal Court has heard the newly reformulated group will argue it is not liable for any potential payout.
The revelation comes amid final preparations for a trial in which Centro shareholders are seeking more than $200 million over the property group's near-fatal collapse.
It emerged as the lawyers for Centro's former auditors, Price-waterhouseCoopers, demanded to know in court if Centro Retail Australia (CRA), the new responsible entity for the Centro group, would ''stand in the shoes'' of the old one and assume its liabilities.
When pressed by Justice Michelle Gordon, the counsel for CRA, Norman O'Bryan, SC, said it was ''highly likely'' the new entity would argue that it was excluded from certain liabilities of the old Centro.
But Michael Lee, SC, counsel for the Centro investors represented by Maurice Blackburn, replied that CRA's proposed defence was ''a matter of potentially extraordinary significance'' as the logical ramification was that any future judgment might be made ''against an entity that would have no assets''.
Mr Lee said that had not been disclosed to the court during the approval process on Centro's restructure.
The new responsible entity, he said, was discovered ''by happenstance'' by the lawyers acting for PricewaterhouseCoopers, who ran repeated corporate searches of the new Centro group structure after it was approved in October by Justice Ian Barrett in the NSW Supreme Court.
Two sets of shareholders, represented by Maurice Blackburn and Slater & Gordon, are suing the old Centro Properties group and Centro Retail as well as the former auditors, PricewaterhouseCoopers, over events in late 2007 when the company failed to disclose as much as $3.1 billion of short-term debt.
PricewaterhouseCoopers has been joined as a co-defendant by Centro Properties and Centro Retail, and in turn PricewaterhouseCoopers has counter-claimed against Centro. PricewaterhouseCoopers this week joined Centro Retail Australia to the action.
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