Opening statement by ob体育 Chair, Joe Longo at the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Corporations and Financial Services, 18 June 2021, Parliament House, Canberra.
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Good afternoon Chair and Committee members.
I am pleased to appear for the first time before this committee today as ob体育鈥檚 Chair.
I am joined in Canberra by newly appointed Deputy Chair Sarah Court, Deputy Chair Karen Chester and Commissioner Cathie Armour, and from Melbourne by Commissioners Danielle Press and Sean Hughes.
Also appearing with us is ob体育鈥檚 Chief Operating Officer Warren Day, General Counsel Chris Savundra and Executive Director of Strategy Greg Kirk here in Canberra.
I will start by acknowledging, as I did recently at the Senate Economics Legislation Committee, that ob体育 takes its accountability to the Parliament and people very seriously.
We recognise the important role that this committee has in overseeing our activities and responsibilities, and legislation relevant to our work.
This is a very challenging time for ob体育 as it emerges from the legacy of the Financial Services Royal Commission, the Covid-19 pandemic and recent Commission level changes.
ob体育 is also entering a new phase of its enforcement and regulatory work. We are finalising enforcement actions arising from the Financial Services Royal Commission and are working towards implementing the last of the law reforms emerging from the Royal Commission鈥檚 recommendations.
I believe that ob体育鈥檚 strength and effectiveness as an institution can and will be enhanced. This includes further improving our governance structure to support the Commission and our senior executives to be more effective decision makers.
I have begun engaging widely with ob体育 staff and stakeholders to further understand ob体育鈥檚 current strategy and approach to regulation and enforcement. This engagement and collaboration will assist me and the Commission to shape and develop ob体育鈥檚 new strategic priorities and longer-term strategy.
From an internal perspective, I have commenced some work to look at ob体育鈥檚 infrastructure. I want to consider ob体育鈥檚 operating model and organisational structure in our key internal operations and processes, including corporate services, information technology, finance, people and development, and compliance.
In conclusion, there is a lot of work ahead for ob体育, but I am confident about its future.
In closing I wanted to briefly address comments made in Parliament yesterday regarding the NUIX IPO. The NUIX prospectus was reviewed by a specialist team at ob体育. We take all complaints and intelligence we receive very seriously. This was no exception. We considered the complaint and requested further information from the company in accordance with our usual procedures.
ob体育鈥檚 role and approach to the review of prospectuses is ob体育 does not consider the merits of an offer when reviewing a prospectus. The market needs to assess the merits of the offer. ob体育鈥檚 reviews are limited to disclosure. We may intervene if we believe a document makes material misleading statements or omits information that is required for an investor to make an informed investment decision. We are very aware of the current market concerns and are conducting a review of the NUIX IPO.
Can I take the Committee to what happened last November. NUIX lodged a prospectus with ob体育 on 18 November 2020. Between 23 and 26 November ob体育 received three complaint letters from a law firm on behalf of an anonymous client. Based on the complaint, the specialist team questioned the company on historical accounting restatements in relation to a number of areas of revenue recognition. Based on the response ob体育 received, it did not appear that the prospectus was misleading or deceptive or contained any material omissions.
I have spoken to the relevant Senior Executives and they have confirmed to me that Commissioner Armour has not been involved in, or otherwise sought to influence, ob体育鈥檚 approach to the review of the NUIX prospectus. One of the complaint letters was sent to ob体育鈥檚 Commission members and this was referred to the team in accordance with our usual processes. The relevant ob体育 teams have reported to the Commission on their approach and progress to date. The Commission has not made any decisions in relation to the NUIX IPO. Our current review is being progressed by the responsible executives involved.
Before my concluding my opening remarks, I turn to the concern raised about Commissioner Armour. ob体育 has clear procedures in place for the disclosure and management of conflicts of interest by ob体育 Commissioners. These are based on disclosure of material personal interests to the Chair and to fellow Commissioners. Prior to and at the commencement of each Commission meeting or Commission Committee meeting, Commissioners are asked to disclose material personal interests or any other interest that related to the matters to be discussed at the meeting. Commissioner Armour does not hold any Macquarie shares or otherwise have any financial connection with Macquarie (other than a bank account). It is more than 8 years since Commissioner Armour was employed by Macquarie. At this point in time I don鈥檛 believe Commissioner Armour has a conflict of interest. As this matter progresses the Commission will follow its usual processes to assess and determine whether there are any conflicts of interest.
In concluding my opening comments on this matter, let me say clearly that I believe that ob体育鈥檚 processes and procedures were properly followed by staff, Commissioners and Acting Chair Chester.
I look forward to working with this committee and to taking your questions this afternoon.