CAMAC to examine Sons of Gwalia decision on shareholder rights

The Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasurer, Chris Pearce, has announced that he has referred issues arising from the High Court decision in Sons of Gwalia Ltd v Margaretic (the Sons of Gwalia case) to the Corporations and Markets Advisory Committee (CAMAC) for consideration and advice.

The Parliamentary Secretary has requested that CAMAC examine three issues:

1. Should shareholders who acquired shares as a result of misleading conduct by a company prior to its insolvency be able to participate in an insolvency proceeding as an unsecured creditor for any debt that may arise out of that misleading conduct?
2. If so, are there any reforms to the statutory scheme that would facilitate the efficient administration of insolvency proceedings in the presence of such claims?
3. If not, are there any reforms to the statutory scheme that would better protect shareholders from the risk that they may acquire shares on the basis of misleading information?

UPDATE 21 September 2007: CAMAC issues discussion paper