ASIC takes legal action against GetSwift over allegedly misleading ASX announcements

Former GetSwift CEO Joel MacDonald and current CEO Bane Hunter. Picture: Tom Pietrasik

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GetSwift founder Joel MacDonald and current chief executive Bane Hunter are being pursued by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) for misleading the market about the troubled company’s customer contracts.

In an announcement today, ASIC said the case would be heard in the Federal Court on March 1 when it will seek to have the two men disqualified from managing a company.

Mr MacDonald is a former AFL player who played 125 games with the Brisbane Lions and then Melbourne before he retired in August 2013. Mr Hunter was previously the GetSwift chairman but became CEO mid last year when Mr MacDonald stood down.

ASIC will allege that GetSwift (GSW) published a number of ASX announcements between February and December 2017 that misled the market about the number of contracts it had for its Software as a Service (SaaS) platform.

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GetSwift has been under investigation for almost a year after it said it had contracts with global giants like Amazon and Yum! Foods, the operator of KFC and Pizza Hut in Australia. It also said it had entered into partnerships with Fantastic Furniture, The Fruit Box Group, and Commonwealth Bank, but later those companies said they had entered trial agreements, rather than commercial partnerships.

GetSwift stock had traded as high as $4.60 but has steadily fallen to the current level of 44c.

ASIC today said both men had failed to carry out their duties as directors. As a result, the regulator is seeking court orders that the pair contravened the Corporation Act, be fined and be banned for managing a company for a period of time imposed by the court.