Australian Securities and Investments Commission v Whitlam [2002] NSWSC 718

Reported Decision : 42 ACSR 515 (2002) 20 ACLC 1537

New South Wales Supreme Court

CITATION : Australian Securities and Investments Commission v Whitlam [2002] NSWSC 718 FILE NUMBER(S) : SC 4421/01 HEARING DATE(S) : 13/08/02 JUDGMENT DATE : 15 August 2002

PARTIES : Australian Securities and Investments Commission - Plaintiff Nicholas Richard Whitlam - Defendant JUDGMENT OF : Gzell J

COUNSEL : Mr M A Pembroke SC with Mr D R Stack for the Plaintiff Mr A J Bannon SC with Mr J Stephenson for the Defendant SOLICITORS : Australian Securities and Investments Commission Lawyer for the Plaintiff Watson Mangioni Corporate and Commercial Lawyers for the Defendant CATCHWORDS : CORPORATIONS - Supervision, Regulation and Correction - Penalty for breach of Civil Penalty Provisions - Failure to act honestly - Improper use of position - Relevant principles - Orders for prohibition from managing a corporation - Pecuniary penalty - COSTS - Whether costs should follow the event - Discovery of transcripts of ASIC examinations - Duty to protect witness confidentiality - Limited power to provide transcript to lawyer conducting proceedings - Partially successful and partially unsuccessful - No order Corporations Law (Cth) Supreme Court Act LEGISLATION CITED : Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) Crimes Act 1900 Australian Securities and Investments Commission Act 2001 (Cth) Australian Securities and Investments Commission v Whitlam [2002] NSWSC 591 Re HIH Insurance Ltd Australian Securities and Investments Commission v Adler (2002) 42 ACSR 80 ASC v Donovan (1998) 28 ACSR 583 at 606 Haughton v Smith [1975] AC 476 CASES CITED : Director of Public Prosecution v Nock [1978] AC 979 Vereker v Rodda (1987) 18 FCR 83 at 93 R v Pantano (1919) 49 A Crim R 328 at 30 R v Halabi (NSWCCA, 17 February 1992, unreported) at 4-5 R v Irusta [2000] NSWCCA 391 Johns v Australian Securities Commission (1992-1993) 178 CLR 408 at 425 DECISION : Prohibition from managing a corporation for 5 years. Pecuniary penalty of $20,000. No order as to costs.