Litigation funder IMF Bentham has locked in funding for a class action against the Commonwealth Bank of Australia.

The class action, which Stockhead covered in depth here, is being led by Maurice Blackburn Lawyers and could make the company hundreds of millions of dollars if it’s successful.

The claim will allege the bank breached its continuous disclosure obligations because of breaches of the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act, and made misleading and deceptive public statements that claimed it was meeting its obligations under that Act.

Australia’s anti-money laundering regulator AUSTRAC accused the bank in August of breaching the Act, after criminals allegedly used its ATMs to launder as much as $625 million.

IMF executive director and legal veteran Hugh McLernon told Stockhead they couldn’t estimate the full cost now, as they couldn’t know how many weeks it might take. He said on average, these kinds of cases took two to three years.

IMF will receive 25 to 30 per cent of the payout if the case is successful.