Fallout from the collapse of MFS Limited has continued with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) taking the unusual step of seeking legal orders that a deregistered company be re-registered.
The regulator announced this week that it had applied to the Queensland Supreme court for an order that Octaviar IHH Pty Ltd be reinstated as a company under the Corporations Act and for orders to wind up other MFS-related companies Octaviar Investments Holdings (No 3) Pty Ltd, Erskine House Developments Pty Ltd and Sunliesure Pty Ltd on just and equitable grounds.
It said each of the companies was a member of the Octaviar Group of which the ultimate holding is Octaviar Limited (in liquidation) formerly known as MFS Limited.
ASIC said it was concerned that the companies were contravening provisions of the Companies Act, including the requirement for a proprietary company to have at least one director.
The regulator said it had applied to the court to appoint Andrew Fielding and Helen Newman, of BDO Australia, as joint and several liquidators of the company.
News of ASIC’s latest action against MFS and its related company structures came barely a month following the regulator’s announcement that the Queensland Supreme Court had disqualified four former officers and the fund manager of MFS Investment Management Limited on matters relating to the Premium Income Fund.
The MFS Group collapsed in 2008 owing $2.5 billion.
