COMMERCIAL AND CORPORATE LAW FOR MANAGERS

ASSIGNMENT 1: MINI RESEARCH PAPER

‘Measures to Prevent Corporate Breaches of Law'

Word Limit: 2000 words.

ASSIGNMENT QUESTION

Over the last five decades a spate of corporate failures, corporate scandals and collapses have been witnessed around the world and in Australia, shaking the confidence of investors and the financial world. Corporate collapses have occurred despite corporate regulations and changes in Corporations Law, which have facilitated in stronger investor and creditor protection. These collapses have wiped off billions of dollars from stock exchanges in Australia worldwide.

Due to recent corporate failures and collapses in Australia, more importance is laid upon the role, liabilities, duties and responsibilities of directors, officers, management and auditors. The importance of high accounting standards, auditing skills, effective corporate management, a strong board of directors and good corporate governance has been emphasised. In most collapses, the directors have been blamed for corporate collapses and corporate failures. Directors have been held liable for significant penalties and fines for breach of their duties. Some of them have even been jailed for corporate breaches. Factors underlying these collapses and the consequences of corporate failures have been examined thoroughly. The adequacies and inadequacies of the legislations and the Corporations Acts in preventing corporate collapses have been highlighted from time to time. Despite all these measures corporate collapses still occur.
Specific tasks:

• Navigate through the ASIC website or internet or journals or legal websites and select only ONE Australian company involved in a corporate scandal or collapse.

• Consider the facts of the case/investigation and explain the background of the contentious issues. Identify the parties concerned and the issues in the case/investigation.

• Identify the law and legal content of corporate issues and collapse (you may choose to research on all the corporate issues that were investigated or identify important issues for purpose of this research assignment.)

Address the following:

• How was investigation conducted in this corporate collapse? What were the findings of the courts or authorities?

• Was Corporations Law or other related laws or regulations sufficient to successfully investigate and make the corporate entity or persons liable?

• What measures can be identified to reduce the risk of corporate collapses and avoid corporate breaches of law? What are your views and suggestions?

GENERAL MATTERS

Essay writing:

Cite appropriate references where applicable.

For Legal Referencing required for this assignment, please use Australian Guide to Legal Citation, University of Melbourne [Freely available on the internet: www.law.unimelb.edu.au/mulr/aglc].