Banton Group

Banton Group was ranked by Chambers and Partners as a leading firm in dispute resolution: class action (plaintiff) in all of Asia-Pacific. Banton Group has also been recognised as one of the leading small firms (1-100 lawyers) in Australasia by the Australasian Law Awards. Banton Group continues to be recognised as one of the leaders in its field, tackling large class actions, in a boutique sized firm. At Banton Group we put a strong emphasis on our strategic planning and investigation and pride ourselves in our ability to efficiently litigate large commercial disputes and class actions.

Banton Group’s success is due to its highly accomplished lawyers from vast backgrounds. Our lawyers are admitted and have practiced in a range of international jurisdictions including Australia, New Zealand, the Middle East, East-Asia, India, Philippines, Indonesia, UAE, the United Kingdom, the United States, Europe, and South Africa.  They have experience in running arbitration proceedings under various international arbitral rules including SIAC, ICC, HKIAC, SCMA, LMAA, BANI, CIETAC, ACICA. Banton Group’s wide range of international experience and skills are key to our multinational disputes, arbitration, and litigation.

Our lawyers have engaged in multi-million-dollar international arbitration for commercial and insolvency disputes, commodity disputes, insurance disputes and maritime disputes, including:

• Acting for an investment company in relation to SIAC arbitration proceedings commenced against a rogue director for breaches of fiduciary, common law and statutory duties worth over US$100 million;
• Acting for global commodities trading house in relation to claim of duress, coercion and unjust enrichment in arbitration proceedings brought under SIAC Rules made by a UAE based coal company.
• Acting for coal trader as insured in relation to a multi-million-dollar insurance claim in Indonesia in respect of property damage and business interruption claims.
• Acting for both charterers and owners in London and Singapore arbitrations relating to charterparty disputes, demurrage and detention, bills of lading disputes, unsafe port disputes and new-building disputes.

Banton Group’s cases of international interest:

ACN 117 641 004 PTY LTD (In Liquidation) (In Its Capacity As Trustee Of The Vale Cash Management Fund) & Anor V S&P Global, Inc. (A Company Incorporated In New York) & Anor (Federal Court Of Australia Proceedings No. NSD881/2020)

Amanda Banton is the only solicitor in the world to secure a judgment against a global credit rating agency (S&P Global Inc [2018] FCA 1289). Following from that class action Banton Group now acts on behalf of investors in collateralised debt obligations (CDOs) rated AA or higher against S&P Global, Inc and Standard & Poor’s International, LLC (S&P), in an open class action brought on behalf of group members including small entities, local Councils, and large investment funds for the period of 2006-2007.

This class action concerns claims of tortious deceit; Corporations Act claims of misleading, false, or deceptive statements, or dishonest conduct; and unconscionable conduct, arising from S&P’s assignment of ratings to CDOs and alleged knowledge that those ratings were unreliable.  The case gives rise to numerous legal complexities including:

• disputes as to the scope of the group definition,
• attribution of knowledge to corporate respondents,
• reliance on ratings representations and causation of loss,
• the extension of limitation periods by alleged fraudulent concealment (including the interpretation of ss1041F-I and 1325 of the Corporations Act).

Eco Green Straws Trading Pty Ltd and Bethany Joy McManus, on behalf of holders of Qoin Tokens

Banton Group acts on behalf of all persons who purchased or acquired Qoin Tokens on or after 1 October 2019 in group proceedings in the Federal Court of Australia. These proceedings are notable as the first cryptocurrency class action commenced in Australia. It is the first test in the Australian market of the accountability of cryptocurrency providers to their investors. The plaintiffs allege, amongst other things, that the defendants made misleading or deceptive statements or otherwise engaged in unconscionable conduct with respect to representations that Qoin Tokens were a valuable commodity that had increased in value and was likely to continue increasing in value over time and that would be tradeable on a free market for fiat currency or goods or services.

The proceedings have been commenced against BPS Financial Limited (who issued Qoin Wallets), Blizy Pty Ltd and PNI Financial Services Pty Ltd (who held AFSL licences permitting BPS to issue Qoin Wallets), Block Trade Exchange Pty Ltd (who operated the sole exchange where Qoin Tokens could be traded), Qoin Association Ltd (who issued Qoin Tokens), Rajesh Kumar Pathak and Antonie Henrik Jakobus Wiese (who were directors of BPS, Block Trade Exchange and Qoin Association).