Australia's corporate regulator The Australian Securities and Investments Commission prosecuted 100 people in the first six months of 2023 for failing to cooperate with the liquidators of companies.Some of the prosecutions are of officers of companies but some relate to persons other than office holders who failed to, for example, provide liquidators with access to the books and records of companies.
More than 190 charges were laid and fines issued totalling more than AUD430,000.
ASIC says that while insolvency numbers have been quite low for some years, they began to rise significantly since the beginning of the year.
" Company officers are required to provide reports and company books to liquidators so the liquidator can quickly and accurately determine an entity’s financial position and the best outcome for creditors, " said ASIC's deputy chairman, Sarah Court.
