Zonia Holdings Pty Ltd v Commonwealth Bank of Australia Limited (No 4) [2022] FCA 1353

Zonia Holdings Pty Ltd v Commonwealth Bank of Australia Limited (No 4) [2022] FCA 1353

The report was rejected because, apart from uncontroversial views about regulatory compliance in the anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing context, it amounted to commentary and Ms Pesce's own evaluations of statements on which the Bank proposed to rely. The Court was unable to see the report as addressing any fact in issue, let alone a fact in issue involving the deployment of specialised knowledge, and was not satisfied that any opinion on materiality for s 677 of the Corporations Act was based on specialised knowledge for that purpose.

Jurisdiction
Australia
Judgment Date
11 November 2022
Procedural Posture
Practice and Procedure; Ruling on Admissibility of Expert's Report / Objection to Applicants' Proposed Tender of Teresa Pesce's Report Dated 27 September 2022
Outcome
The report of Teresa Pesce dated 27 September 2022 was rejected.
Legal Topics
['admissibility of Expert Evidence' 'opinion Evidence' 'continuous Disclosure' 'materiality of Information' 'anti Money Laundering and Counter Terrorism Financing Compliance']
['practice and Procedure' 'evidence' 'corporations'] ['admissibility of Expert Evidence' 'opinion Evidence' 'continuous Disclosure' 'materiality of Information' 'anti Money Laundering and Counter Terrorism Financing Compliance']

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Procedural Posture

Practice and Procedure; Ruling on Admissibility of Expert's Report / Objection to Applicants' Proposed Tender of Teresa Pesce's Report Dated 27 September 2022

Legal Issues

  1. 1 ["Whether Teresa Pesce's report was relevant and admissible as opinion evidence under s 79 of the Evidence Act 1995 (Cth)." 'Whether the report addressed a fact in issue involving the deployment of specialised knowledge.' 'Whether the report was evidence in reply.']

Ratio Decidendi

The report was rejected because, apart from uncontroversial views about regulatory compliance in the anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing context, it amounted to commentary and Ms Pesce's own evaluations of statements on which the Bank proposed to rely. The Court was unable to see the report as addressing any fact in issue, let alone a fact in issue involving the deployment of specialised knowledge, and was not satisfied that any opinion on materiality for s 677 of the Corporations Act was based on specialised knowledge for that purpose.

Court Disposition

The report of Teresa Pesce dated 27 September 2022 was rejected.

Orders

  • ['VID 1085 of 2017: Makes the ruling set out in [14] of the reasons for judgment published today as Zonia Holdings Pty Ltd v Commonwealth Bank of Australia Limited (No 4) [2022] FCA 1353.' 'NSD 1158 of 2018: Makes the ruling set out in [14] of the reasons for judgment published today as Zonia Holdings Pty Ltd v...