A New South Wales Supreme Court judge last week struck out claims that the Bendigo and Adelaide Bank’s $490 million worth of loans given to Great Southern investors should be declared void.

Financial planner Stephen Navra took Bendigo Bank to court late last year in a bid to prevent it from handing over the details of 273 clients of his firm to credit agencies.

The clients stopped paying the loans after it emerged Great Southern had mismanaged its various agriculture managed investment schemes.

Last week, judge David Hammerschlag struck out parts of Mr Navra’s claim, including arguments that the loans should be declared void on account of alleged misrepresentations or misleading conduct by Great Southern.

The loans were originally made by Great Southern and then transferred to Bendigo Bank.

Mr Navra had planned to argue defects due to Great Southern’s conduct flowed through to the bank.

Justice Hammerschlag struck out this part of the claim after Mr Navra argued he could not advance his case without information from the bank, which the bank has refused to provide.

The judge allowed the case to proceed on the narrower scope that the loans were not properly transferred, and hence cannot be enforced by the bank.

Mr Navra’s lawyer, Daren Anderson, said his client preferred to fight the case on the narrower basis.

The question of whether the bank can credit list his clients will return to court on Friday.

Last month the bank started proceedings against three of its customers in the Victorian Supreme Court.

Bank spokesman Will Rayner said they would soon be joined by another six borrowers who had stopped paying their loans.

Along with those cases, the critical test for Bendigo Bank will be whether a class action is launched.

Macpherson+Kelley says it acts for 1200 customers of the bank who believe their loans are invalid.

At its half-year results last month, Bendigo Bank said the number of investors in the class action had diminished.