Boardroom Brief: Week commencing 10 April 2023 | Gilbert + Tobin Lawyers: Law Firm in Sydney, Melbourne & Perth
Summary
In Over the Horizon, we discuss a recent report calling for greater international collaboration between corporate regulators to combat persistent misconduct and harmful practices affecting retail investors. The Commissioner noted that directors’ responsibilities go beyond handling individual disclosures, requiring board oversight of the company’s whistleblower program. We expect continued ASIC focus on whistleblower provisions as a key plank of its broader enforcement strategy, as they effectively achieve an element of “outsourcing” of the regulator’s policing function over corporate malfeasance. On 31 March 2023, the International Organisation of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) released a report on the threat to retail investors posed by harmful practices such as cross-border scams, greenwashing, misconduct and fraud. NEDs should be cognisant of the evolving retail trading landscape, especially the threat posed by the global problems identified in the IOSCO report and ASIC’s future regulatory responses to these issues.