Between 1 January and 31 March 2010, ASIC successfully prosecuted 113 company officers in relation to 212 criminal contraventions of the Corporations Act (the Act).

ASIC took these actions after receiving complaints from the public and insolvency practitioners who have an obligation to report certain offences to ASIC. These prosecutions resulted in fines and costs being imposed totalling approximately $222,200.

Most of the prosecutions relate to company officers failing to comply with their statutory obligations to provide assistance to liquidators and administrators or for failing to provide them with access to a company’s books. ASIC also prosecuted directors who failed to update ASIC’s public information registers with the current company/officer information and for lodging documents with ASIC knowing they contained false and/or misleading information.

Of the 113 directors prosecuted, 79 were from New South Wales, 15 were from Queensland, 16 were from Victoria and 3 were from South Australia.

Further details - including the names of the company officers - is available at ASIC.