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ARTICLE · 09 DECEMBER 2021

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Australian Court Grants Shareholders Access To Bank's Internal Documents To Assess Alignment With Climate Change Commitments

Jones Day
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On 4 November 2021, the Federal Court of Australia made orders by consent which require the Commonwealth Bank of Australia ("CBA")...

AustraliaEnvironment
Jennifer L. Chambers
Jennifer L. Chambers
Michael R. Fischer
Michael R. Fischer
Annie Leeks
Annie Leeks
Michael Lundberg
Michael Lundberg
Tim L'Estrange
Tim L'Estrange
Leah Ratcliff
Leah Ratcliff
Holly Sara
Holly Sara
Mahesh V. Parlikad (Hesh)
Mahesh V. Parlikad (Hesh)
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On 4 November 2021, the Federal Court of Australia made orders by consent which require the Commonwealth Bank of Australia ("CBA") to permit the plaintiff shareholders to inspect and make copies of books and records that document the bank's decision to finance a number of oil and gas projects. The orders represent a significant new frontier in climate change litigation in Australia. It is the first high profile matter in Australia in which shareholders have sought to exercise the right to inspect the books of a company for the purpose of assessing the company's compliance with corporate ESG policies and climate-change related commitments.

As reported in our earlier Alert, the plaintiff shareholders, commenced the action against CBA in September 2021 (Guy Abrahams and Kim Abrahams as trustees for the Guy & Kim Abrahams Family Trust v Commonwealth Bank of Australia, NSD864/2021). The plaintiffs rely on section 247A of the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) which empowers

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