ASIC orders investigation costs
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) announced it would use its powers to more regularly recover costs of an investigation from the person who they investigate.
The corporate regulator said it rarely recovered its investigation expenses but decided to do so after reviewing its approach.
It said it would order compensation of its investigation costs under section 91 of the Australian Securities and Investments Commission Act 2001 if, after the investigation, a person is convicted of an offence.
It would also ask to recover costs if a judgement is made against the person, or another order is made against the person in a court proceeding.
It said it would order the person pay for the whole or specific part of the investigation, or costs to ASIC of carrying out the investigation, including salary costs of ASIC staff involved in carrying out the investigation, travel expenses of those who had to interview witnesses, external legal counsel costs, and the costs of employing experts to analyse the case.
The new orders are applicable immediately and will also apply to investigations that started before the release of this information sheet unless court proceedings have already begun, or an agreement has been reached with the person to resolve the matter.
Those who do not adhere to the order may be subject to a penalty of $8500 or a one year jail term, or both.
AUTHOR
Malavika Santhebennur
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