Ann: Government of Mali - Update, page-146

https://www.andrewbragg.com/post/senate-hearings-demonstrate-dire-state-of-asic

Senator Andrew Bragg
August 23, 2023

The Senate Economics Committee continued public hearings for theASIC Inquiry.

The takeaway from today’s hearings is that although we havestrong corporate laws, the corporate regulator is defective.

ASIC has an obligation to investigate and prosecute white-collarcriminals. But even when there are clear statutory breaches, ASIC fails toact.

In the case of Courtenay House, a Ponzi scheme, ASIC received 10complaints before beginning regulatory action.

Company insiders and professional bodies told us how ASIC failedto pursue their reports of insider trading, faulty disclosures and otherbreaches.

In the last year, the Financial Advice Association reported theconduct of 11 financial advisors to ASIC. They have only received a response to1 of these reports.

In instances where ASIC does act, they repeatedly fail to engagethe complainant to obtain evidence or update them on theirinvestigations.

One witness told us how ASIC took twelve months to respond totheir evidence of misleading disclosures. It was also revealed that ASIC failedto interview key insiders who were willing to provide evidence of insidertrading at Nuix.

ASIC does not consider whistleblowers an integral part of theinvestigation process. Whistleblowers take significant risks to reportcorporate misconduct. At best, ASIC treats them with indifference, and at timesdo not respond to whistleblower complaints.

For example, it took ASIC 18 months to meet with awhistleblower, and the ASIC investigators he met with were unaware of theextensive documentation he had already provided to the regulator.

It is clear that ASIC is in a dire state. Australia desperatelyneeds a strong corporate regulator that will enforce the law, and notfacilitate corporate crime.

Public hearings resume tomorrow.

[Ends]

I will forward copies of the letters I have sent to ASIC, regarding FFX, to Senator Bragg, who was an accountant before entering parliament.
I encourage all who have contacted ASIC to do the same. I have heard a couple of interviews with Andrew, he is a determined gentleman.