The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has filed a lawsuit Regional Express Holdings Limited (Rex) saying the airline engaged in misleading and deceptive conduct and contraventions of continuous disclosure obligations. Rex is currently in administration.
ASIC will also allege former executive chair Lim Kim Hai was involved in Rex’s continuous disclosure breach and that Lim, along with John Sharp, Lincoln Pan and Siddharth Khotkar, contravened their directors’ duties.
ASIC said it will allege Rex released a misleading ASX announcement on 28 February 2023 stating Rex was “optimistic the Group will have positive operating profits for the full FY23 barring any further external shocks”. ASIC will allege that Rex did not have a reasonable basis for that claim for a number of reasons, including because it had incurred operating losses in the financial year to date, and it did not prepare a financial forecast for FY23 before issuing the announcement.
ASIC will contend Rex breached its continuous disclosure obligations by failing to disclose a material downgrade, despite being aware when it issued the February ASX announcement that the company was unlikely to achieve an operating profit. Rex subsequently announced a downgrade on 20 June 2023 forecasting a $35 million operating loss for the financial year ending 30 June 2023.
ASIC Chair Joe Longo said, “Our case will allege serious governance failures at Rex. Rex’s directors had a responsibility to take reasonable steps to ensure the company complied with the law and we will seek to hold them to account. We will allege four of Rex’s directors breached their duties because they failed to take steps to ensure the market had accurate information about the company’s financial performance.”
ASIC will allege Lim contravened his directors’ duties between 28 February 2023 and 20 June 2023 by drafting and approving the 28 February 2023 announcement and failing to take steps to prevent Rex from breaching continuous disclosure rules.
ASIC will also allege the other three directors became privy to financial information from 14 April 2023 which should have led them to take steps to ensure Rex updated the market in accordance with its continuous disclosure obligations prior to 20 June 2023.
“Continuous disclosure of market-sensitive information is fundamental to upholding the integrity of our public markets and supporting a fair and efficient financial system,” Longo said. “Directors of listed entities play a critical role in ensuring companies comply with their continuous disclosure obligations. Failing to take reasonable steps to ensure a company is compliant is not acceptable.”
ASIC seeks leave to commence the proceedings against Rex as it is in administration. While ASIC will seek a declaration of contravention against Rex, it will not seek pecuniary penalties against the company. ASIC will seek declarations, pecuniary penalties and disqualification orders against Lim, Sharp, Pan and Khotkar.
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