PRBL004: COMMERCIAL AND CORPORATE LAW FOR MANAGERS
SEMESTER - SUMMER, 2014
School of Business
Charles Darwin University
ASSIGNMENT 1: MINI RESEARCH PAPER
‘Measures to Prevent Corporate Breaches of Law’
Word Limit: 2000 words [excluding footnotes or endnotes and bibliography]
Total Marks: 25
Due Date: Week 9 – Sunday at midnight
ASSIGNMENT QUESTION
Over the last five decades a spate of corporate failures, corporate scandals and collapses have been witnessed around the world and in Australia, shaking the confidence of investors and the financial world. Corporate collapses have occurred despite corporate regulations and changes in Corporations Law, which have facilitated in stronger investor and creditor protection. These collapses have wiped off billions of dollars from stock exchanges in Australia worldwide.
Due to recent corporate failures and collapses in Australia, more importance is laid upon the role, liabilities, duties and responsibilities of directors, officers, management and auditors. The importance of high accounting standards, auditing skills, effective corporate management, a strong board of directors and good corporate governance has been emphasised. In most collapses, the directors have been blamed for corporate collapses and corporate failures. Directors have been held liable for significant penalties and fines for breach of their duties. Some of them have even been jailed for corporate breaches. Factors underlying these collapses and the consequences of corporate failures have been examined thoroughly. The adequacies and inadequacies of the legislations and the Corporations Acts in preventing corporate collapses have been highlighted from time to time. Despite all these measures corporate collapses still occur.
Specific tasks:
• Navigate through the ASIC website or internet or journals or legal websites and select only ONE Australian company involved in a corporate scandal or collapse.
• Consider the facts of the case/investigation and explain the background of the contentious issues. Identify the parties concerned and the issues in the case/investigation.
• Identify the law and legal content of corporate issues and collapse (you may choose to research on all the corporate issues that were investigated or identify important issues for purpose of this research assignment.)
Address the following:
• How was investigation conducted in this corporate collapse? What were the findings of the courts or authorities?
• Was Corporations Law or other related laws or regulations sufficient to successfully investigate and make the corporate entity or persons liable?
• What measures can be identified to reduce the risk of corporate collapses and avoid corporate breaches of law? What are your views and suggestions?
GENERAL MATTERS
Essay writing:
Cite appropriate references where applicable.
For Legal Referencing required for this assignment, please use Australian Guide to Legal Citation, University of Melbourne [Freely available on the internet: www.law.unimelb.edu.au/mulr/aglc].
Matters to consider:
Do not report on all that you have learnt from the research. Be selective of the sub-topics and remember to maintain the central discussion on the following:
• Reasons for corporate collapse
• Identify the corporate breaches
• Role of ASIC on the topic chosen
• The relevant provisions of the Corporations Law
• Precedents / cases / authorities, if any
• Your opinion on the law and proposals for reform
• Your answer should be a legal opinion perhaps not unlike a report that you are required to submit at work. It should be expressed in impersonal terms such as -it is submitted- or -it is suggested- but not -I think- or -I feel-. Furthermore, your legal opinion should not take the form of a letter to a client.
• The use of colloquial and slang expressions should be avoided although there is nothing wrong with the use of certain legal expressions such as: -the court below- or -inferior courts-. Students must follow standard the legal footnoting technique found in the AGLC
• Poor spelling, bad grammar and wrong syntax will reduce your marks.
University Policy on Plagiarism
• Plagiarism is a serious offence because it is a form of cheating. It is poor scholarship, and hence it lowers academic standards, thereby devaluing your award and those of others from your university
• Plagiarism is the presentation of the work of another without acknowledgment. Students may use information and ideas expressed by others, but this use must be identified by appropriate referencing
• A bibliography of books or other materials consulted must be included at the end of the answer. Full and correct references must be given to ensure the precise use of materials, as well as to prevent large scale -borrowing-.
Acknowledgement:
Use has been made of a number of resources, research papers, journals, websites, Learn line, Charles Darwin University websites and texts including:
Turner, C., and Trone, J., Australian Commercial Law (29th Edition, Lawbook Company, New South Wales, 2013);
Lipton, P. and Herzberg, A., Understanding Company Law (Law Book Company, New South Wales, 2013),
PRBL004 Unit Material provided by Kevin Clark, Charles Darwin University;
to prepare this assignment and assessment criteria for educational purposes. Thanks to all the above authors and resources for valuable knowledge and contribution.