The Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) has affirmed a decision to cancel the registration of Sydney liquidator, Mr Randall Clinton Joubert, ASIC has announced earlier today.
The AAT found that Mr Joubert’s actions as a registered liquidator of several companies were deliberate and dishonest and that he was not a fit and proper person to be a registered liquidator by
- in three external administrations, failing to disclose a relevant prior relationship with the directors in the Declarations of Relevant Relationships and Indemnities (DIRRIs); and
- in one external administration, failing to investigate suspicious asset sales to a trust and subsequently failure to mention in the annual report to creditors the circumstances of the sale as known to him.
In addition to the dishonesty findings, the AAT also expressed findings of serious concerns around several aspects of the matters before the AAT, which included: the curious role a director played in four of the liquidations; failure to follow up demands to directors to attend the liquidator’s office; in relation to investigations of sales of assets to related parties, bringing those investigations to a premature end and failing to seek funds on a realistic or commercially attractive basis to conduct investigations; and the use of formulaic templates containing inaccurate information in annual reports.
The AAT further expressed concern that Mr Joubert had failed to notify ASIC of concerns about the companies so that ASIC could consider whether to conduct investigations into possible breaches of the Corporations Act.
John Price, ASIC
ASIC Commissioner John Price said:
The AAT’s findings reinforce the requirement for registered liquidators to act independently and competently to meet both their statutory duties and professional standards.
A registered liquidator’s primary obligation is to creditors who rely on registered liquidators to act lawfully and transparently by disclosing prior relationships, making true declarations and applying monies received in the course of administering companies appropriately. Failure to fulfil these obligations, or to properly investigate and report suspicious dealings in companies to ASIC, is a serious dereliction of a liquidator’s duties’, Mr Price added.
The cancellation of Mr Joubert’s registration as a liquidator takes effect from 19 April 2018.
The complete announcement can be seen here.