Australia's first shareholder class action judgment

The Federal Court of Australia recently published the first judgment by an Australian Court in a securities class action in TPT Patrol Pty Ltd v Myer Holdings Limited [1]. Whilst the Court held that the class suffered no loss even though defendant had contravened its continuous disclosure obligations, the judgment highlights the need for listed entities to comply with continuous disclosure obligations. More significantly, the decision demonstrates the significance of expert evidence and event studies in class actions, and that Courts may apply market-based causation, albeit with a twist that means that there remains the possibility that class members will need to demonstrate direct causation. Background  On 11 September 2014, Myer’s CEO forecasted that Myer’s net profit after tax (NPAT) for the 2015 financial year (FY15) would exceed the $98.5 million net profit achieved in the 2014 financial year. On 19 March 2015, in an ASX announcement, Myer revised its…