Rich & Anor v Australian Securities and Investments Commission

The applicants, Rich and another, sought judicial review of a decision made by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC). The dispute concerned ASIC's power to issue a notice under s 19 of the *Australian Securities and Investments Commission Act 2001* (Cth) (ASIC Act) requiring the production of documents. The matter came before McHugh J in chambers.

The central legal issue before the Court was whether ASIC had the power to issue a notice under s 19 of the ASIC Act to a person who was not a party to an investigation being conducted by ASIC. Specifically, the Court had to determine if the scope of ASIC's investigative powers under s 19 extended to requiring information from individuals or entities who were not themselves the subject of the investigation.

McHugh J considered the language of s 19 of the ASIC Act, which permits ASIC to require a person to produce documents if ASIC has reason to believe that the person has possession of documents relevant to the performance of ASIC's functions. His Honour concluded that the section did not require the person from whom documents were sought to be the subject of an investigation. The purpose of the provision was to enable ASIC to gather information relevant to its functions, irrespective of whether the informant was under investigation. Therefore, ASIC had the power to issue the notice to the applicants, even if they were not the primary focus of ASIC's inquiry.