Callychurn and Australian Securities and Investments Commission

This matter concerned an application for review of decisions made by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) concerning Ms Callychurn and her involvement with UMS, a company holding an Australian Credit Licence. ASIC had expressed concerns that Ms Callychurn had provided false or misleading information in UMS's annual compliance certificates, that she was not a fit and proper person to engage in credit activities, and that she was likely to contravene credit legislation. These concerns led to ASIC proposing to cancel UMS's licence and prohibit Ms Callychurn from engaging in credit activities. The review was heard by Deputy J Redfern P.

The primary legal issues before the court were whether Ms Callychurn had contravened section 225 of the National Consumer Credit Protection Act 2009 (Cth) by providing false or misleading information, whether she was a fit and proper person to engage in credit activities, and whether she was likely to contravene credit legislation in the future. A further issue concerned the scope of the Tribunal's review on remittal, specifically whether new grounds and evidence could be considered.

The court affirmed the decisions under review. Deputy J Redfern P applied principles from cases such as *Shi v Migration Agents Registration Authority* and *Frugtniet v ASIC* regarding the scope of review on remittal. The court held that while findings of past contraventions were limited to the conduct that occurred up to a specific point in time, the assessment of whether a person is a fit and proper person involves a broader, ongoing inquiry. This allows for the consideration of subsequent events and new information that sheds light on an individual's integrity and fitness to engage in credit activities. The court was satisfied that the grounds for cancellation existed, finding that UMS was not fit and proper to engage in credit activities and was likely to contravene credit legislation if its licence were reinstated. Consequently, the cancellation of UMS's credit licence was affirmed.