Dyer v Ausn Securities & Investment Comm

Dyer applied to the High Court for special leave to appeal against a decision of the Full Federal Court. The dispute concerned the Australian Securities and Investments Commission's (ASIC) power to issue a notice under s 19 of the *Australian Securities and Investments Commission Act 2001* (Cth) (the ASIC Act) requiring Dyer to attend an examination and produce documents. Dyer contended that the notice was invalid because it was issued by an ASIC delegate who was not a senior executive of ASIC.

The primary legal issue before Hayne J was whether a delegate of ASIC, who was not a senior executive, could validly issue a notice under s 19 of the ASIC Act. This required an interpretation of s 19(2) of the ASIC Act, which specifies who may issue such a notice, and s 110 of the ASIC Act, which deals with the delegation of ASIC's powers.

Hayne J reasoned that s 19(2) of the ASIC Act permits a delegate of ASIC to issue a notice under that section, provided that the delegate is a "senior executive" of ASIC. Section 110 of the ASIC Act allows ASIC to delegate its powers to a "senior executive" of ASIC. His Honour found that the delegate who issued the notice in this instance was not a senior executive of ASIC. Therefore, the notice was invalidly issued.

Special leave to appeal was granted, the appeal was upheld, and the order of the Full Federal Court was set aside. The notice issued by ASIC was declared to be invalid.