Leadenhall Australia and Australian Securities and Investments Commission

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) sought to issue a disclosure notice under section 672A(1) of the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) to Leadenhall Australia. This notice was intended to compel Leadenhall Australia to disclose information regarding persons who held a relevant interest in shares in a particular company, pursuant to section 672B of the Act. The core of the dispute concerned whether ASIC's decision to issue such a notice was reasonable in all the circumstances, and specifically, whether a person could be directed to disclose the details of another person who held a relevant interest in shares.

The primary legal issue before the court was whether the Deputy President of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal erred in affirming ASIC's decision to issue the disclosure notice. This involved determining whether the Tribunal correctly applied the provisions of sections 672A and 672B of the Corporations Act, particularly in relation to the reasonableness of ordering disclosure and the scope of persons who could be compelled to provide information about beneficial ownership of shares.

Deputy President Britten-Jones P affirmed the decision under review. The reasoning, though not detailed in the provided text, indicates that the Tribunal's prior decision to uphold ASIC's issuance of the disclosure notice was found to be correct. This implies that the Tribunal was satisfied that ordering Leadenhall Australia to disclose the details of another person with a relevant interest in the shares was reasonable in the circumstances and within the scope of the legislative provisions. The court found no error in the Tribunal's assessment of the reasonableness of the disclosure requirement.