On 4 July 2025, the Federal Court (Jackman J) dismissed a case brought by ASIC against four current or former directors and officers of TerraCom Limited for allegedly giving false or misleading information to the ASX (in contravention of s 1309(2) of the Corporations Act) and alleged breaches of duty under s 180(1) of the Corporations Act.
The impugned ASX statements were said to convey two categories of false or misleading information: (i) that a December 2019 report by PwC into allegations of falsifying coal testing certificates had found that the allegations were “unfounded”; and (ii) that in each case where a customer had asked for a coal sample to be retested, no issues had been identified. The s 180(1) claim also alleged that the defendants’ response to the PwC report was inadequate and that further investigations ought to have been undertaken.
Jackman J dismissed all of these claims, finding that only two of the alleged representations to the ASX were established, and neither was false or misleading. His Honour concluded that “ASIC should have known that the proceedings … had no realistic chance of success” (at [129]). His Honour also observed that part of the s 180(1) allegations against two of the defendants (Danny McCarthy and Nathan Boom) were “unworthy of the corporations regulator” (at [125]).
Christopher Mitchell acted for two of the four defendants (Nathan Boom and Craig Ransley), led by Jeremy Giles SC and instructed by Horton Rhodes.