The Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) has granted a temporary stay order to a Queensland director who was banned by the corporate regulator earlier this year for failing to meet fit and proper person requirements.
ASIC had banned Maree Narelle Hawcroft from controlling an entity that carries on a financial services business and performing any functions involved in the carrying on of a financial services business for one year from 14 March 2023.
Hawcroft applied to the AAT on 27 March seeking a review of ASIC’s decision as well as stay and confidentiality orders.
The ban has been stayed from 1 August, with ASIC’s agreement and subject to conditions, pending resolution of the review application.
Hawcroft was the director of A.C.N. 127 523 193 Limited, formerly Oracle Funds Management Limited (Oracle), and A.C.N. 114 733 569 Limited, formerly ISG Financial Services Limited (ISG).
Both were responsible entities of two registered managed investment schemes, respectively.
ASIC found that Hawcroft was not a fit and proper person to perform functions as an officer of an entity that carries on a financial services business, or to control an entity that carries on a financial services business.
When providing a statement of personal information for a recent application from Oracle to ASIC, she declared that within the last 10 years she had not been engaged in the management of a company that:
- carried on a business for which a licence is required by law;
- had been the subject of any investigations or proceedings by a regulatory body; and
- had a Corporations Act licence revoked or suspended.
However, at the time she signed the statement of personal information, Hawcroft was a director of ISG which had an AFS licence that had been suspended from 27 June 2022 to 6 February 2023.
In providing incorrect information in the statement of personal information, Hawcroft had demonstrated lack of diligence, professionalism and poor judgement, according to the regulator.
With the temporary stay order from 1 August, she is able to do things that otherwise she would be prohibited from doing by the terms of the banning order, until further order of the AAT and subject to the conditions which include:
- providing information to ASIC about her activities that would otherwise be prohibited by the banning order; and
- ensuring entities in which she undertakes activity of that kind are made aware of ASIC’s decision, and of the stay orders.
The banning order is recorded on ASIC’s publicly available banned and disqualified persons register.
A date for the substantive hearing is yet to be set.
