Matthew Spain

Partner

Emailmatthew.spain@dlapiper.com

Call+61 423 044 166

Melbourne

About

Areas of FocusFinance Litigation, Arbitration and Investigations Financial Services

Professional QualificationsOntarioSolicitor of the High Court of AustraliaSolicitor of the Supreme Court of Victoria

EXPERIENCE

Acting for a large financial services entity and its executives in the first regulatory prosecution brought by APRA in over a decade in which APRA sought to ban the individuals from the superannuation industry.
Acting for a large financial services entity in relation to the theft of confidential documents, leading to explosive allegations in the media, a Senate inquiry, regulatory investigation and pre-emptive breach of confidence proceedings against a plaintiff class action law firm and the funder of a proposed class action based on those documents. The proceeding resulted in successfully obtaining injunctions against the class action law firm and the funder enjoining them from participating in any class action against the entity based on the content of the documents.
Acting for six significant financial services entities in the Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry.
Acting for various large corporations in many extensive ASIC and APRA regulatory investigations and for various examinees in related examinations.
Undertaking a comprehensive independent review of a financial services’ entities compliance with relevant laws. The review involved interviewing key witnesses, reviewing customer documents, analysing results and synthesising the findings into a focused report for provision to the relevant regulator, with recommendations for business and process improvements.
Acting for a big 4 bank in a matter involving the fraudulent processing of direct debits totaling in excess of USD15 million that were used to purchase a chain of elderly people’s homes, and the recovery of the stolen funds.
Acting for a big 4 bank in a ‘product miss-selling’ case relating to an interest rate swap.
Acting for a large financial services company in a continuous disclosure shareholder Class Action arising from matters disclosed at the Banking Royal Commission.
Acting for a Formula One driver in expedited Supreme Court of Victoria and Court of Appeal proceedings to enforce a foreign arbitral award, and associated proceedings for contempt against his Formula One racing team.
Acting for the defendant in a class action in relation to the sale of certain credit insurance products.

Education

Deakin University, Bachelor of Commerce (Accounting)

Deakin University, Bachelor of Laws with Honours

Memberships And Affiliations