The Sharemarket College Pty Ltd and Australian Securities and Investments Commission

The matter before the Administrative Appeals Tribunal concerned an application for a stay of a decision made by a delegate of the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC). The applicants, The Sharemarket College Pty Ltd and its directors, sought to stay the ASIC delegate's decision which had prohibited them from providing financial services. The dispute arose from ASIC's findings of misconduct, including the dissemination of false claims about the College's financial performance and the provision of personal financial advice contrary to its licence.

The Tribunal was required to determine whether to grant a stay of the delegate's decision pending the final hearing of the review applications. In considering this, the Tribunal had to assess established principles, including the prospects of success of the review applications, the consequences for the applicants if a stay were not granted, the public interest, the impact on ASIC's ability to carry out its functions, and whether the review applications would be rendered nugatory without a stay. The applicants primarily argued that financial hardship would be occasioned to the College if the stay was not granted, with only a minor reference to adverse media publicity.

The Tribunal noted that the applicants had indicated they would not be ready to pursue their applications until March 2017, despite the Tribunal's offer of an early hearing. The Tribunal reasoned that the readiness for hearing was largely within the applicants' control, and any delay resulting from a lack of readiness, in the absence of special reasons, did not constitute grounds for a stay. The Tribunal concluded that the utility of granting a stay was questionable given the prohibition on the business and the applicants' stated inability to proceed with their review in a timely manner.

Consequently, the Tribunal ordered that the application for a stay of the delegate's decision be refused in each application.