Canon Australia Pty Ltd, in the matter of Canon Australia Pty Ltd

Canon Australia Pty Ltd and its current and former directors and officers applied to the Federal Court for relief from civil liability arising from their failure to comply with certain financial reporting obligations under the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth). The court was required to determine whether the contraventions were inadvertent and honest and whether granting relief would cause substantial injustice to any person. The court found that the contraventions were due to misapprehension and honest inadvertence, and there was no substantial injustice to any person. The court granted relief to the plaintiffs and extended the time for lodging certain forms and financial reports with ASIC.

The court found that the contraventions were not deliberate but rather due to a misapprehension regarding the nature and requirements of Class Orders. The company believed that the Class Order relief had been implemented by its predecessors, and the non-compliance continued unnoticed until April 2022. The court accepted that the investigations undertaken by the company and its external legal advisers were comprehensive, and the failure to comply was the product of honest inadvertence and reliance on incomplete professional advice. The court also found that the company had acted promptly and responsibly in investigating and seeking to remedy the contraventions. The court was satisfied that granting relief would not cause any person substantial injustice, as the company was profitable, and its financial reports showed a true and fair view of its financial position. The court granted relief to the plaintiffs and extended the time for lodging certain forms and financial reports with ASIC.