On 19 August 2009, the Supreme Court of the State of New South Wales in Australia imposed civil penalties on former James Hardie Industries Ltd (JHIL) directors and officers, including seven non-executive directors, who the Court found had failed to exercise their powers and discharge their duties with an appropriate degree of care and diligence. Each non-executive director was fined $30,000 and disqualified from managing a corporation for a period of 5 years.
Companies in the James Hardie group manufactured and sold asbestos products. As a result of decisions made at a JHIL board meeting in February 2001, a Foundation with assets of $293 million was set up (more…)
On 11.17.09, In Court cases, By John Hanna
On 09.28.09, In CG key issues, By John Elliott
Australia remains a country in which the courts are still a major determinant of the legal content of corporate governance standards. However, Australia has experienced a major shift in judicial philosophy over the last 20 years and that, in combination with the decline of the doctrine of precedent, has resulted in a very fluid set of judicially-determined corporate governance principles. (more…)
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