THE CORPORATIONS LAW

CHAPTER 9 - MISCELLANEOUS

PART 9.4 - OFFENCES

Division 1 - Specific offences

SECTION 1309   FALSE INFORMATION ETC.  

1309(1)  [Information known to be false or misleading]  

An officer of a corporation who makes available or furnishes information, or authorises or permits the making available or furnishing of information, to:

(a)  a director, auditor, member, debenture holder or trustee for debenture holders of the corporation;

(b)  if the corporation is taken for the purposes of Chapter 2M to be controlled by another corporation - an auditor of the other corporation; or

(c)  a securities exchange in Australia or elsewhere or an officer of such a securities exchange;

being information, whether in documentary or any other form, that relates to the affairs of the corporation and that, to the knowledge of the officer:

(d)  is false or misleading in a material particular; or

(e)  has omitted from it a matter or thing the omission of which renders the information misleading in a material respect;

is guilty of an offence.

1309(2)  [Failing to take steps to ensure information not false or misleading]  

An officer of a corporation who makes available or furnishes information, or authorises or permits the making available or furnishing of information, to:

(a)  a director, auditor, member, debenture holder or trustee for debenture holders of the corporation;

(b)  if the corporation is taken for the purposes of Chapter 2M to be controlled by another corporation - an auditor of the other corporation; or

(c)  a securities exchange in Australia or elsewhere or an officer of such a securities exchange;

being information, whether in documentary or any other form, relating to the affairs of the corporation that:

(d)  is false or misleading in a material particular; or

(e)  has omitted from it a matter or thing the omission of which renders the information misleading in a material respect;

without having taken reasonable steps to ensure that the information:

(f)  was not false or misleading in a material particular; and

(g)  did not have omitted from it a matter or thing the omission of which rendered the information misleading in a material respect;

is guilty of an offence.

1309(3)  [``Person making available'']  

The references in subsections (1) and (2) to a person making available or furnishing, or authorising or permitting the making available or furnishing of, information relating to the affairs of a corporation include references to a person making available or furnishing, or authorising or permitting the making available or furnishing of, information as to the state of knowledge of that person with respect to the affairs of the corporation.

1309(4)  [Question and answer to be considered]  

Where information is made available or furnished to a person referred to in paragraph (1)(a), (b) or (c) or (2)(a), (b) or (c) in response to a question asked by that person, the question and the information shall be considered together in determining whether the information was false or misleading.

1309(5)  [Lodgment of certain documents prohibited]  

A person shall not, for the purposes of this Law, lodge with a futures exchange, a clearing house for a futures exchange, or a futures association, a document that contains a statement that, to the person's knowledge, is false or misleading.