Khoury v Commonwealth Bank of Australia trading as Bankwest

In the case of Khoury v Commonwealth Bank of Australia trading as Bankwest, the plaintiff, Mr Khoury, was seeking to prevent the transfer of proceedings from the Federal Circuit Court to the Supreme Court of New South Wales. The defendants, the Commonwealth Bank of Australia trading as Bankwest, sought to transfer the proceedings under the Cross-vesting Act and the ASIC Act. The primary issue before the court was whether the proceedings should be transferred to the Supreme Court for a more expeditious resolution.

The court was required to determine whether the transfer of proceedings to the Supreme Court would be in the interests of justice. The court considered the arguments presented by both parties and concluded that the transfer was likely to lead to the most expeditious resolution of the proceedings and the proceedings for possession proposed by the respondents. The court noted that the test for transfer under the Cross-vesting Act and the ASIC Act was essentially the same, and that it was not necessary to determine whether the ASIC Act applied to the exclusion of the Cross-vesting Act.

The court granted the respondents' application to transfer the proceedings to the Supreme Court. The court also determined that the respondents were entitled to the costs of the application to strike out the amended statement of claim, as the application was necessary to expedite action by the applicants on the issues which eventually led to the amendments expressed in the second amended statement of claim. The court did not hear argument or make orders concerning the restraint of sale of the Dural Land Application, considering it more appropriate for the Supreme Court to deal with this interlocutory application as part of its administration of the transferred proceedings.

The final orders of the court were to transfer the proceedings to the Supreme Court and to award costs to the respondents. The court did not make any orders regarding the restraint of sale of the Dural Land Application, as it considered this matter to be within the purview of the Supreme Court.