Murray Goulburn Co-operative Co. Limited v AIG Australia Limited [2021] FCA 288

Federal Court of Australia

Murray Goulburn Co-operative Co. Limited v AIG Australia Limited [2021] FCA 288 File number: VID 303 of 2020

Judgment of: BEACH J

Date of judgment: 26 March 2021

Catchwords: INSURANCE – indemnity policy for liability concerning securities class action exposure – side C cover – claim for indemnity – settlement sums paid to settle two class actions – alleged contraventions of continuous disclosure provisions – construction of policy – meaning of "securities" – meaning of "securities claim" – units in a listed unit trust – equity interest – relevance of meaning of "securities" under s 92 of the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) – exclusions – scope of endorsements – whether claims in class actions arose out of product disclosure statement concerning the MG Unit Trust – acquisition of units in the MG Unit Trust on secondary market rather than primary market – causal nexus of class action claims to the product disclosure statement – meaning and scope of "arising out of, based upon, attributable to" – "professional services" exclusion meaning and scope – indemnification available under side C cover

Legislation: Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) ss 92, 111AE, 111AM, 111AFA, 601EB Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 (Cth) ss 960-130, 960-140, 974-1 Securities Act of 1933 (US) § 2(1)

Cases cited: AIG Australia Limited v Kaboko Mining Limited (2019) 20 ANZ Insurance Cases ¶62-205 Arbuthnott v Fagan [1996] LRLR 135 Arnold v Britton [2015] AC 1619 Charter Reinsurance Company Ltd v Fagan [1997] AC 313 Chubb Insurance Company of Australia Ltd v Robinson (2016) 239 FCR 300 Codelfa Construction Pty Ltd v State Rail Authority (NSW) (1982) 149 CLR 337 Dalby Bio-Refinery Ltd v Allianz Australia Insurance Limited [2019] FCAFC 85 Darlington Futures Ltd v Delco Australia Pty Ltd (1986) 161 CLR 500 Elecnet (Aust) Pty Ltd (as trustee for Electrical Industry Severance Scheme) v Commissioner of Taxation of Commonwealth of Australia (2016) 259 CLR 73 Kaboko Mining Limited v Van Heerden (No 3) (2018) 20 ANZ Insurance Cases ¶62-191 Mainteck Services Pty Ltd v Stein Heurtey SA (2014) 310 ALR 113 Mount Bruce Mining Pty Ltd v Wright Prospecting Pty Ltd (2015) 256 CLR 104 Rainy Sky SA v Kookmin Bank [2011] 1 WLR 2900 Onley v Catlin Syndicate Ltd as the Underwriting Member of Lloyd's Syndicate 2003 (2018) 360 ALR 92 Todd v Alterra at Lloyd's Ltd (2016) 239 FCR 12 Toll (FGCT) Pty Ltd v Alphapharm Pty Ltd (2004) 219 CLR 165 XL Insurance Co SE v BNY Trust Company of Australia Limited (2019) 20 ANZ Insurance Cases ¶62-211