Sydney liquidator's registration cancelled
The Companies Auditors and Liquidators Disciplinary Board (CALDB) has decided to cancel the registration of Sydney liquidator, Randall Clinton Joubert, as he had failed to adequately and properly carry out his duties of a liquidator.
Additionally, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) contended before CALDB that he had neglected his duties on five occasions, four of which had been referred to him by the same accountant, and according to ASIC he was no longer "a fit and proper person to remain registered as a liquidator".
CALDB's findings also found that he:
- Failed to disclose a relevant relationship and made false declarations in his Declarations of Relevant Relationships and Indemnities (DIRRIs) in connection with two companies;
- Failed to disclose indemnities received, and made false declarations in his DIRRIs and amended DIRRIs in connections with four companies;
- Lodged various forms or reports with ASIC that were deficient and/or contained false or misleading statements;
- Failed to take all or any of the necessary steps that a reasonably competent liquidator would be expected to take to investigate the affairs of the companies;
- Did not have proper or adequate systems or practices to ensure that information sent to creditors was up to date, accurate and cogent, and that forms lodged with ASIC were accurate and did not contain false or misleading statements or information in respect of five companies; and
- Received a remuneration cheque for the liquidation of a deregistered company while not being the liquidator, and retained the funds after having opened a bank account as liquidator of the company instead of remitting the funds as unclaimed monies to ASIC.
Joubert applied to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT), which stayed CALDB's cancellation decision, until it has decided Joubert's application.
This meant that Joubert was not allowed to accept any appointments that required him to be registered as a liquidator pending the determination of the AAT review application and he had to notify all stakeholders of his current external administrations of CALD's decision.
According to ASIC, a date for the hearing of Joubert's review application had not been fixed.
ASIC Commissioner, John Price, said: "The CALDB's decision reinforces the requirement for registered liquidators to act independently and competently to meet both their statutory duties and professional standards".
Recommended for you
Government has introduced a bill to Parliament to legislate the first stream of the QAR reforms.
ASIC now has a 1:1 ratio when it comes to court success in the enforcement of crypto activities and more action is expected as Treasury seeks to introduce a regulatory framework.
A leading governance body has hit out at “specialist interest groups proposing ad hoc law reform” when it comes to reforms of financial services legislation and believes an independent body is needed.
The release of ALRC’s final report into financial services legislation has highlighted financial advice as a “significant” focus as it seeks to reduce costs and help advisers understand their obligations, alongside the Quality of Advice Review.
