ASIC Slams Claims That It Was Soft On Vizard

by Mary Swire, for LawAndTax-News.com, Hong Kong

07 July 2005

Chairman of the Australian Securities and Investment Commission, Jeffrey Lucy yesterday hit back at claims that the regulatory body has been 'soft' on former Telstra director Steve Vizard because of his political connections.

ASIC alleges that Mr Vizard breached his duty as a director by improperly using confidential and price sensitive information given to him as a director of Telstra to gain an advantage for himself and others.

The Commission has launched a civil case against Mr Vizard, set to be heard next month.

However, according to reports in the national media, former head of the National Crime Commission, Peter Faris QC has questioned ASIC's decision not to pursue criminal charges against the former Telstra official, hinting that this was because Mr Vizard was too well-connected to be sent to jail.

Speaking to a Melbourne radio station on Wednesday, Mr Lucy revealed that it was not the place of ASIC to recommend to the Director of Public Prosecutions whether criminal charges should be made in any given case, going on to state that:

"I think that to suggest that people within ASIC, people within the DPP and myself are potentially influenced because of his political connections is just quite outrageous. It's a slur on ASIC."

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