Marundrury v Commonwealth Bank of Australia [2021] FCA 1379

Federal Court of Australia

Marundrury v Commonwealth Bank of Australia [2021] FCA 1379 File number: VID 59 of 2021

Judgment of: MOSHINSKY J

Date of judgment: 9 November 2021

Catchwords: PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE – application to summarily dismiss proceeding or strike out statement of claim – anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing legislation – where the applicants claimed to have been victims of practice known as "cuckoo-smurfing" – where the applicants claimed that the respondent bank did not comply with its obligations to report suspicious transactions – where the applicants claimed that if the bank had complied with its obligations, they would not have had to forfeit moneys in their accounts – where the bank claimed that due to the anti-tipping provision of the anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing legislation it could not plead to the allegations or otherwise defend itself – where the bank claimed that due to the provision in the legislation concerning inadmissible evidence, the applicants could not make out their case – whether the applicants' claims should be summarily dismissed or struck out

Legislation: Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act 2006 (Cth), ss 5, 6, 36, 41, 43, 81, 82, 123, 124, 248 Australian Securities and Investments Commission Act 2001, ss 12ED, 12GF Corporations Act 2001 (Cth), s 655A Federal Court of Australia Act 1976 (Cth), s 31A Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (Cth) Federal Court Rules 2011 (Cth), r 26.01

Cases cited: ASZ21 v Commissioner of Taxation [2021] FCA 1304 Spencer v Commonwealth (2010) 241 CLR 118 Tomlinson v Ramsey Food Processing Pty Ltd (2015) 256 CLR 507 Tresize v National Australia Bank Limited [2020] FCA 902 Trkulja v Google LLC (2018) 263 CLR 149 Victoria International Container Terminal Ltd v Lunt (2021) 388 ALR 376