Professional Documents
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May Statutory directors for Some duties
May Statutory directors for Some duties
INTRODUCTION
The year 2013 marked the 20th anniversary of the commencement of the civil penalty regime that is
now contained in Pt 9.4B of the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth). This reform provided the corporate
regulator, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), with a range of civil
measures that dramatically reduced the need for reliance upon criminal sanctions.1 These civil
penalties include remedies only available to ASIC.2 This significantly contrasts the general law
position where civil remedies are predominantly sought by the company at the behest of its
shareholders. The introduction of these statutory civil penalties, and in particular ASIC’s standing to
commence civil penalty proceedings, has raised questions as to the relevance of public interest
considerations beyond simply the interests of the company and its shareholders. The uncertainty
surrounding this topic has most recently been highlighted in ASIC v Cassimatis3 where Reeves J left
undecided the impact that the interests of the shareholders had with respect to potentially precluding
ASIC’s ability to enforce an alleged breach of s 180(1) of the Corporations Act.
This article will explore the nature and scope of the public interest dimension to the duties of a
director under the Corporations Act, and its relationship to the interests of the company and its
shareholders. At a conceptual level, the core of the debate appears to lay in the continuing trend
towards a greater emphasis on public policy and social responsibility considerations within the
corporate sector, especially in light of recent corporate collapses. This conflicts with the more
traditional understanding of the company as a private undertaking managed purely for the benefit of its
shareholders. The article will therefore commence with an analysis of the purpose and intent behind
the enactment of statutory directors’ duties and the more recent introduction of the civil penalty
*
LLB (Hons) (Qld), BCom (Qld) (Hons) (Monash). An earlier version of this article was presented in partial fulfilment of the
Honours degree of Bachelor of Commerce at Monash University. The author would like to thank Dr Phillip Lipton of the
Department of Business Law and Taxation for his invaluable comments and advice. Any remaining errors are the authors.
1
Comino V, “The Enforcement Record of ASIC Since the Introduction of the Civil Penalty Regime” (2007) 20 Australian
Journal of Corporate Law 183 at 187.
2
Corporations Act 2001 (Cth), ss 206C, 1317J(1).
3
Australian Securities and Investments Commission v Cassimatis [2013] FCA 641.
There are three possible categories of shear key (see Fig. 8):
Unreinforced Full Depth: Typically extending through the
weak soil layer(s) and embedded into stronger soils below, the
key completely isolates the weaker layer, preventing extrusion.
The granular fill to these trenches improves the drainage of the
soft underlying soils.
346
Proceedings of the XVI ECSMGE
Geotechnical Engineering for Infrastructure and Development
ISBN 978-0-7277-6067-8
RÉSUMÉ Plates-formes de travail temporaires sont essentielles pour la stabilité de l'installation, l'efficacité et la sécurité de fonctionne-
ment. Le guide de bonnes pratiques (BR 470), «les plates-formes de travail pour l'usine de camions» a été préparé par le BRE en Juin 2004
Le premier objectif de ce guide est d'atteindre un niveau de sécurité acceptable pour empilage et d'autres opérations de l'usine à chenilles.
Le guide inclut l'option d'utiliser des produits géosynthétiques comme renfort structurel. Conceptions basées sur cette directive se traduit
souvent par une plate-forme de travail trop épaisse. Des recherches approfondies ont été réalisées sur des couches d'agrégats non liés méca-
niquement stabilisé avec une structure de géogrille hexagonale avec des ouvertures triangulaires. Sur la base de cette recherche avec une
expérience sur le terrain, une méthode de charge de propagation a été conçue comme une approche alternative au guide de BR470 qui four-
nit une conception économique sûr, mais plus avec une empreinte carbone plus faible. Cette approche a été largement utilisée dans de nom-
breux projets au Royaume-Uni pour les plates-formes de travail sur des sols de fondation plus faibles, parfois inclus, conditions de charge
extrêmes. Ce document met en évidence l'application de plates-formes de travail stabilisées mécaniquement sur deux projets avec des con-
ditions géotechniques et de chargement difficiles; Crossrail, contrat C310 à North Woolwich et de développement commercial à Ipswich.
Les plates-formes de travail stabilisées non seulement permis l'utilisation de matériaux recyclés, mais aussi de réduire l'épaisseur de la
plate-forme de travail pouvant aller jusqu'à 65% par rapport à une conception avec le BR470. Ainsi les plates-formes de travail stabilisé
mécaniquement conçus avec une méthode de charge de propagation de façon empirique pour des structures de géogrille hexagonale peut
réduire le coût et le temps de construction et de réduire ou d'éviter la nécessité d'importer le remblai granulaire, tout en créant une plate-
forme de travail durable, sans danger pour le suivi du projet.
1395
Geotechnical Engineering Discussion
Volume 167 Issue GE1 Vardanega, Kolody, Pennington et al.
the geotechnical reduction factors (similar to partial factors), and Platforms. American Petroleum Institute, Washington, DC,
a risk analysis matrix is used to search for a value of the USA.
reduction factor applicable to the specific design project being Burland JB, Butler FG and Dunican P (1966) The behaviour and
undertaken. This gives the design engineer the flexibility to design of large diameter bored piles in stiff clay. Proceedings
reduce the partial factors if good ground investigation data and of the ICE Symposium on Large Bored Piles, London, UK,
load testing are carried out, or increase them if designing in an pp. 51–71.
unfamiliar soil deposit. The code itself gives advice on the Caltrans (2011) California Amendments to Aashto LRFD Bridge
elements of geotechnical risk that the designer must consider; in Design Specifications, 4th edn. California Department of
other words, they recognise that a ‘one size fits all’ approach is Transportation, Sacramento, CA.
perhaps limited. Eurocode 7 aims to achieve a similar result by FHWA (Federal Highway Administration) (2010) Drilled Shafts:
encouraging the designer to vary the characteristic values of soil Construction Procedures and LRFD Design Methods, Report
properties in relation to the quality of the supporting data, while No FHWA NHI-10-016. National Highway Institute,
keeping the values of partial factors constant. Washington, DC, USA.
Guha S (1995) Dynamic Characteristics of Old Bay Clay
The discussion of the adhesion factor Æ for bored pile design is Deposits in the East San Francisco Bay Area. PhD thesis,
interesting. The parameter Æ relates to the soil deposit being Purdue University, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
studied; the value Æ ¼ 0.5 is commonly used in London Clay. Paikowsky S (2004) Load and Resistance Factors for Deep
Increasing Æ to account for rate effects in clay might be Foundations, NCHRP Report 507. Transportation Research
warranted, but only if load-test data were also available (e.g. Board, Washington, DC, USA.
Burland et al., 1966). For example, previous use of ‘constant rate Patel D (1992) Interpretation of results of pile tests in London
of penetration’ tests generally showed slightly higher values of Æ Clay. In Piling: European Practice and Worldwide Trends
for London Clay (Patel, 1992). For static loading, Æ ¼ 0.7 used in (Sands MJ (ed.)). Thomas Telford, London, UK, pp. 100–
the Caltrans amendment, as noted by the discussers, does seem 110.
surprisingly high for a stiff clay (API, 1984); the overall Poulos HG (2004) An approach for assessing geotechnical
reliability of the design will depend not only on this and the reduction factors for pile design. Proceedings of the 9th
applied strength reduction factor, but also on the factors applied Australia New Zealand Conference on Geomechanics,
to loads. We understand that, in practice, the use of this value is Auckland, New Zealand, vol. 1, pp. 109–115.
often replaced by results from load testing. Standards Australia (2009) AS2159-2009: Piling: design
and installation. Standards Australia, Sydney, NSW,
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Aashto (2007) LRFD bridge design specifications. Customary US Vardanega PJ, Kolody E, Pennington SH, Morrison PRJ and
Units, 4th edn. American Association of State Highway and Simpson B (2012) Bored pile design in stiff clay I: codes of
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