Park Trent Properties Group Pty Ltd v Australian Securities and Investments Commission [2016] NSWCA 298

Court of Appeal Supreme Court New South Wales Medium Neutral Citation: Park Trent Properties Group Pty Ltd v Australian Securities and Investments Commission [2016] NSWCA 298 Hearing dates: 11 October 2016 Decision date: 03 November 2016 Before: McColl JA at [1]; Gleeson JA at [2]; Leeming JA at [3] Decision: Appeal dismissed, with costs. Catchwords: CORPORATIONS LAW – financial services – whether appellant carried on a financial services business without licence – regulation deemed certain circumstances not to be providing a financial service – one element of circumstances prescribed by regulation was whether person advised was, or was likely to become, a trustee or director of trustee of superannuation fund – appellant's business involved advising members of existing superannuation funds to exit existing fund and establish self managed superannuation funds which would make leveraged investments in real property – members would become directors of new trustee of self managed superannuation fund – whether such conduct fell within regulation and thereby deemed not to be providing a financial service – Corporations Regulation 7.1.29, considered

PRACTICE – amendment – primary judge refused application to amend defence on 6th day of trial – whether House v King error established – whether amendment if allowed would give rise to contested questions of fact – whether error in failing to consider whether legal practitioner acting for defendant should pay costs thrown away – whether failure to quantify delay caused by amendment – relevance of delay where ASIC had brought expedited enforcement proceedings – whether proposed defence was bad in law – appeal dismissed