Sloppy directors miss deadlines
By Ruth Williams | theage.com.au | 18 November
An increasing number of listed-company directors are flouting disclosure rules on their shareholdings, with more than 100 potential breaches of the Corporations Act referred to the corporate regulator.
Figures released yesterday showed that, of 3077 directors' interest notices lodged with the Australian Securities Exchange in the three months to September 30, about 250 — about 20 a week — breached ASX listing rules due to being late or incomplete.
Of those, 106 potentially breached the Corporations Act by landing more than 14 days late and were referred to the Australian Securities and Investments Commission.
The total number of breaches represented about 8.1 per cent of notices lodged, a rise on the 6.4 per cent for the same quarter last year. The September-quarter breach rate was also higher than the previous three months to June, when 7.3 per cent of notices breached rules.
Of the total breaches, 53 related to active or "on-market" trades by directors.
Eric Mayne, ASX's chief supervision officer, said that although most directors complied with the disclosure rules, there was no excuse for not doing so and failure created a perception of misconduct.
Earlier this year, a Government advisory panel called for tighter controls on directors' trades, including banning trading during blackout periods.
First published by TheAge.com.au on November 18 2009
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