AGS's involvement in the Australian Securities and Investments Corporation (ASIC) investigation into the collapse of Storm Financial Limited in 2008 drew to a close in 2012 –13. We worked closely with ASIC on this matter from May 2009.
A team of AGS lawyers was outposted to ASIC, while others in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane also worked on the investigation. The AGS team worked on Federal Court litigation involving a claim by ASIC that Storm Financial operated an unregistered managed investment scheme, and that Macquarie Bank, Commonwealth Bank and Bank of Queensland were knowingly involved in the operation of the scheme.
The Storm proceedings were extremely complex and involved AGS working on the investigations into the failure of Storm Financial, unconscionable conduct, breach of contract, civil penalties issues and unregistered managed investment scheme issues. The litigation involved millions of documents, 95 witnesses, a tender bundle of 11,000 documents and a hearing that ran for 48 days, generating 3,000 pages of transcripts and 600 exhibits.
The Statement of Claim was filed in the Brisbane registry in December 2010, and the hearing began in September 2012, concluding on 12 December 2012. Oral submissions took place in February 2013, and judgment is now reserved. The litigation has already resulted in the recovery of significant compensation for investors advised by Storm Financial.
The AGS team at ASIC included (at various times) Cameron Hutchins (Senior Executive Lawyer), Donna Robinson (Senior Executive Lawyer), Gary Power (Senior Lawyer), Sabina Aielli (Lawyer), Denise Attard (Lawyer), Kelvin Boateng (Lawyer) and Ben May (Lawyer).
This is an extract from the 2012–13 AGS annual report