D H Flinders Pty Ltd v Australian Financial Complaints Authority Limited [2020] NSWSC 1690

Supreme Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: D H Flinders Pty Ltd v Australian Financial Complaints Authority Limited [2020] NSWSC 1690 Hearing dates: 18 November 2020 Date of orders: 26 November 2020 Decision date: 26 November 2020 Jurisdiction: Equity - Commercial List Before: Stevenson J Decision: Declaration to be made that AFCA has no contractual authority, jurisdiction or power to determine the complaints made against the plaintiff by the second and fourth defendants Catchwords: CORPORATIONS – financial services – external dispute resolution scheme – proper construction of tripartite contract constituted by AFCA rules between financial services licensee, AFCA and complainant – whether AFCA had authority, jurisdiction or power to determine complaint – where complaint about conduct of licensee's representative – whether complaint arose from provision of a financial service by the licensee to the complainant – whether licensee a financial firm for the purpose of the AFCA rules CORPORATIONS – financial services – external dispute resolution scheme – whether AFCA had dealt with complaint in a procedurally fair and impartial manner Legislation Cited: Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) Cases Cited: Casaclang v WealthSure Pty Ltd (2015) 238 FCR 55; [2015] FCA 761 Cromwell Property Securities Ltd v Financial Ombudsman Service Ltd [2014] VSCA 179 Mickovski v Financial Ombudsman Service Ltd (2012) 36 VR 456; [2012] VSCA 185 Patersons Securities Ltd v Financial Ombudsman Service Ltd [2015] WASC 321 Category: Principal judgment Parties: D H Flinders Pty Ltd (Plaintiff) Australian Financial Complaints Authority Ltd (First Defendant) Muhammad Imad Khan (Second Defendant) Brahim Nassereddin (Third Defendant) Ahmed Ibrahim (Fourth Defendant) Representation: Counsel: D R Sulan with D Forrester (Plaintiff) M M Wise QC with T B Goodwin (First Defendant)