The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) has suffered another blow in its dealings with controversial brokerage Rural & General Insurance Broking (R&GIB).

The ACT Appeal Court last week rejected an APRA application to appeal an earlier ruling by the ACT Supreme Court which favoured R&GIB.

The company is suing the regulator for up to $40 million, alleging defamation relating to information posted on the APRA website last year warning consumers to think twice before dealing with R&GIB.

APRA, which denies saying anything derogatory about the company, is concerned R&GIB acts as an agent for the Vanuatu-based unauthorised foreign insurer Rural & General International Insurance (R&GII).

R&GIB agrees it does place some – but not all – of its business with R&GII and says it is not directly linked with the insurer.

R&GIB MD Aaron Stephenson told Sunrise Exchange News the group has lost about $5 million a year in business from the situation.

“[The latest APRA action] is just another attempt to thwart our case and exhaust us of funds,” Mr Stephenson said. “It is 12 months down the track and they still haven’t put on a defence.”

The case is set for further court discussion tomorrow.