O'Brien, Daniel Christian v Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd & Ors

Settlement Update

The proceeding has settled and the proposed settlement has been approved.

Source: Supreme Court of Victoria

About This Case

Group proceeding (class action) brought on behalf of persons who entered into car loans issued under ANZ’s credit license, in the period 1 January 2011 to 31 March 2016, with respect to which a “flex commission” was paid to an ANZ accredited car dealer.

The claim alleges that car dealers acted on behalf of ANZ in providing certain credit services to group members who took out car loans with those dealers. The claim alleges that the terms of those car loans relating to the “flex commissions” constituted “unfair conduct” for the purposes of the National Consumer Credit Protection Act 2009 (Cth). Further, it is alleged that ANZ engaged in misleading or deceptive conduct by failing to disclose to those borrowers certain matters concerning the loan agreements. The claim seeks to restrain the lenders from charging further interest, the repayment of interest under the loans or alternatively orders voiding the loan agreements.

The proceeding has settled and the proposed settlement has been approved.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT THE PROPOSED SETTLEMENT

Please note that the deadline to object to the proposed settlement has now passed.

On 20 December 2024, the Court approved a Notice of Proposed Settlement to be sent to group members. Group members should read the Notice carefully. The matters set out in the notice may affect their legal rights.

Notice of Proposed Settlement

Anyone wishing to participate in the proposed settlement must have registered their details with Maurice Blackburn Lawyers by 14 March 2025.

Any group member who wished to object to the proposed settlement must have by 10 March 2025:

completed the ‘

Notice of Objection

’ form available at Maurice Blackburn's website and emailed it to Maurice Blackburn Lawyers at esandaflexca@mauriceblackburn.com.au Any group member who wished to object may have (but were not obliged to) appeared, or have had their legal representative appear, at the settlement approval hearing which was on 9 May 2025 at 10:30am (AEST) in the Supreme Court of Victoria.

Further details regarding the hearing will be published on this webpage.

Late Opt Out Orders

Orders made by the Honourable Justice Nichols on 5 December 2023 permitted the late opt out of certain group members.

Please note that the Annexures to the orders have not been published to protect the private information of group members.

The persons named in these orders are permitted to opt out of the proceeding because, as at the date of these orders, they each submitted an application or notice to the Court directly or through a lawyer appointed to act for them that: (i) was in writing; (ii) was personally signed by the group member; (iii) set out adequate reasons why the group member did not file an opt out notice by the deadline and why the group member says that the Court should make an order permitting the group member to opt out.

Important information about registration and opting out

Please note that the deadline to register or opt out has now passed If you are, or you think that you may be a group member, you should read the documents below carefully. The Notice (a copy of which is below) contains important information about your rights to (1) register your interest in the proceedings or (2) opt out of the proceeding.

In summary, if you fall within the definition of a group member:

You must register your interest in accordance with the Notice by Thursday, 28 September 2023 to be eligible to receive compensation if there is a settlement between the parties at the upcoming mediation. For further information on how to register, please refer to paragraphs 13 - 15 in the Notice below.

You will remain a group member unless you take steps to opt out by Thursday, 28 September 2023. For further information about opting out, please refer to paragraphs 24 - 27 of the Notice below.

The definition of a "group member" is set out in the Notice.

Source: Supreme Court of Victoria

How to Register

Anyone wishing to participate in the proposed settlement must have registered their details with Maurice Blackburn Lawyers by 14 March 2025.

Source: Supreme Court of Victoria