ASIC v Vines [2003] NSWSC 1116

Reported Decision : 48 ACSR 322 (2004) 22 ACLC 37

New South Wales Supreme Court

CITATION : ASIC v Vines [2003] NSWSC 1116 HEARING DATE(S) : 18, 19 & 20 November 2003 JUDGMENT DATE : 23 December 2003 JURISDICTION: Equity JUDGMENT OF : Austin J DECISION : Objection to admissibility of evidence on ground of relevance unsuccessful

CATCHWORDS : CORPORATIONS - officer's statutory duty of care and diligence - chief financial officer - whether expert's opinion of what a reasonably competent chief financial officer in the defendant's position would do is relevant to the statutory standard and therefore admissible evidence Companies Act, 1961 (NSW), s 124 Companies Act 1958 (Vic), s 107 LEGISLATION CITED : Companies (NSW) Code, s 229 Corporations Law, ss 9, 232 Evidence Act 1995 (NSW), s 55 ASC v Donovan (1998) 28 ACSR 583 ASIC v Rich (2003) 44 ACSR 341 ASIC v Vines [2003] NSWSC 1095 AWA Ltd v Daniels (1992) 7 ACSR 759 Blair v Curran (1939) 62 CLR 464 Byrne v Baker [1964] VR 443 Commonwealth Bank of Australia v Friedrich (1991) 5 ACSR 115 CASES CITED : Daniels v Anderson (1995) 37 NSWLR 438 DCT v Clark (2003) 45 ACSR 332 Deloitte Haskins and Sells v National Mutual Life Nominees (1991) 5 NZCLC 67,418 Dovey v Cory [1901] AC 477 Fletcher v National Mutual Life Nominees Ltd (1990) 3 NZLR 641 Powercell Pty Ltd v Cuzeno Pty Ltd [2003] NSWSC 600 R v Rogers (No 2) (1992) 29 NSWLR 179 Re City Equitable Fire Insurance Co [1925] Ch 407 Vrisakis v ASC (1993) 11 ACSR 162 Australian Securities and Investments Commission (P) PARTIES : Geoffrey William Vines (D1) Francis Timothy Robertson (D2) Timothy John Henry Fox (D3) FILE NUMBER(S) : SC 3138/01 S D Robb QC with R Beech-Jones & E Collins (P) B Oslington QC with G Seib (D1) COUNSEL : D L Williams SC with M Fisher (D2) J W J Stevenson SC with L P Menzies (D3)