ASIC disqualifies 7 directors in recent enforcement blitz
The corporate regulator has said it will continue to take tougher action against company directors whose actions negatively impact small businesses.
ASIC has disqualified seven company directors under Section 206F of the Corporations Act 2001 due to unfair misconduct during the 1 April to 30 June 2024 quarter.
The corporate regulator said its continued enforcement is aimed at protecting the wider public, employees and other small businesses against future mismanagement of companies.
If company directors fail to pay the ATO, employee entitlements or other creditors to give themselves a competitive advantage against other businesses, they will be disqualified.
The Corporations Act allows ASIC “to disqualify a person from managing corporations for a maximum period of five years if, within a seven-year period, the person was an officer of two or more companies, and those companies were wound up and a liquidator provides a report to ASIC about each of the company’s inability to pay its debts.”
Meral Altinarda, Julian Bignold, Miroslav Samardzija, Laurence Pereira, Peter Gribble, Andrew Parry and Christian Oey were disqualified as company directors by ASIC.
“These actions are part of ASIC’s enforcement priorities which aim to protect small business through action to halt harmful conduct.”
Directors who are related to business failures and engage in “illegal phoenix activity” which results in unpaid debts and harmful impacts to small businesses will continue to be targeted for misconduct, ASIC said.
Illegal phoenix activity, “occurs when a new company, for little or no value, continues the business of an existing company that has been liquidated or otherwise abandoned to avoid paying outstanding debts, which can include taxes, creditors and employee entitlements.”
Some of the recently disqualified directors were found to be engaged in illegal phoenix activity and used company funds to make payments to related parties for no commercial reason, leading to five years maximum debarment.
ASIC disqualified accommodation and food services industry director Meral Altinarda for four years, on the grounds of her involvement in four companies which owed a combined $2,199,755 to creditors and $1,737,247 to the ATO.
Food services industry director Julian Bignold was dismissed for three and a half years as two companies he was involved with owe $12,411,959 to unsecured creditors and $529,561 to the ATO.
Miroslav Samardzija, building and construction director, was involved with three companies owing $2,344,867 to unsecured creditors and $1,031,522 to the ATO and was disqualified for five years by ASIC.
Laurence Pereira was also disqualified for five years from his director position in the electrical, refrigeration, air-conditioning and mechanical services industries. Four companies Pereira was associated with owed a total of $4,006,382 to unsecured creditors and $1,031,357 for unpaid wages, superannuation, and employee entitlements.
Director in property development and financial services, Peter Gribble, was disqualified for two and a half years, as four companies he was involved with owed a total of $9,463,640 to 24 unsecured creditors.
Gribble was also previously disqualified in October 2022 for three years.
Andrew Parry was banned from his director role in solar, media telecommunications and bitcoin mining for five years due to his association with four small proprietary companies which owed $11,085,390 to creditors.
Finally, a director in the financial and insurance services industry, Christian Oey, was disqualified for five years on the basis that two companies he was involved with owed creditors a total of $5,850,309.
ASIC relies on information and supplementary reports lodged by registered liquidators who request assistance to remove directors, officers and individuals related to a company that fails to comply with its legal obligation.
ASIC maintains a ‘disqualified register’ to provide information about people who have been banned from leading companies.
