Today the High Court of Australia unanimously upheld an appeal by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission in its ongoing pursuit of civil penalty proceedings against seven non-executive directors of James Hardie Industries Ltd (“JHIL”). The plurality judgment in ASIC v Hellicar was delivered by French CJ, Gummow, Hayne, Crennan, Kiefel and Bell JJ. Heydon J wrote a separate judgment to arrive at the same ultimate outcome.
The effect of the decision is that the seven directors have been found to have contravened their duties under section 180 of the Corporations Act 2001 (the obligation to exercise due care and diligence).
