Legal Issues Faced By Company Managers: Case Studies And Answers

Question 1:
What type of companies are allowed to use the letters N.L. after their name?  What do these letters indicate? 
Question 2:
When is money considered to be “unclaimed” in a bank account?  Which government website would you use to search for unclaimed money? 
Question 3:
On 16 February 2005 Rodney Adler pleaded guilty to charges.  How many criminal charges did he plead guilty to?  What would have been the standard of proof that the Department of Public Prosecutions (DPP) would have had to meet if he had not pleaded guilty?

Question 4:Using the ASIC Connect website, search for a company called “Albus Holdings Pty Ltd”.  What is the ACN for this company?  What was the company’s former name?  
Question 5:
“Harry the Potter” is a registered business name.  Using the ASIC Connect website, what is the ABN for this business?  In which state is the business located?

The report on legal issues faced by company managers is a common phenomenon. Several cases haves been discussed below o explain the issues in a critical way. The evaluation begins with understanding different types of companies formed in Australia and how these are registered. Besides this several cases were considered to explain various legal issues that affect negatively on the business venture. There are five questions which are discussed in minute detail.

Answer to case study 1:

Advice to Ron on the particular case scenario:

Issues:

The given case study on Ginny and Hermione, the Brisbane based company discusses ways in which a director Ginny duped the company and made them invest in an advertising agency for reviving campaigns as per environmentalist’s opinion. Over a period of time the Brisbane based company experienced complains from environmental agencies regarding the promotion campaigns they showcase. According to the environmentalists the company shows impact of burning coal on environment. These visuals of burning natural elements were not accepted by the environmental agencies. Ginny took the initiative alone and did not discuss with the partner before recommending and finalising a new advertising agency. She simply stated that change in needed and in the board meeting she conveyed that she will be hiring a new agency by investing $5 million.

Later however it was revealed that the agency, Ethical ads with whom the company has tied up for improving visuals with new concepts belonged to her husband and sister-in law. Thus she shared misleading information and this decision soon impacted negatively on the business. Hermoine’s legal advisor identified that the company suffered huge loss and also was not in a position to consider new steps since the company account does not have enough money. Hence the business partner Ginny made profit and this impacted negatively on business.

Law

Good faith, use of position and use of information--criminal offences

 Application of the legal principles

When Ron advised for legal help it could be evaluated in relation to the case of company CEO turned director Rodney Adler, the insurer who mislead the shareholders with false information and made a profit for himself while ensured that the company experienced a severe loss during the financial year (Turner & Trone, 2016).

Conclusion

As far as this case study is concerned here the management should quickly take legal help and ensure that an investigation is conducted so that the guilty are punished like Adler and financial loss that is suffered by the company could be reduced in a defined way.

Question 1

Thus it is advised that the manager should supervise, investigate and take legal help to solve the problem so that the company do not experience any loss in future. 

A company under Australian Governmental policies could be limited, No liability or Proprietary in the name. Every company as per Government rules has a unique legal entity controlled by specific owners and directors. People who wish to work as a team and earn money may not register as a company, but work for a common goal and earn money. Thus to earn money through business, there is no need to form a company. A company is separate that is created by following specific rules and regulations (Barker, 2007).

The No liability is also known as NL is a special type of company in Australia following Corporations Act 2001 should have specific objects and ensure that it is only a mining company and besides this, the company is also not entitled to adjust to the share price and manage alike issues. The company with suffix NL is restricted to only specific mining activities and this approach may even lead to financial insecurities in the mining business. The specific letters thus indicate No Liability and ensure that a mining company should adjust to the specific domain and meet its expectations. No liability companies are completely different from other types of companies and the shareholders of a no liability company are not allowed to pay calls on unpaid share if any ("CORPORATIONS ACT 2001 - SECT 184Good faith, use of position and use of information--criminal offences", 2017). This is a new attempt and is different from the conventional company structure.

Unclaimed money is that money available in the bank which is generally from lost bank accounts, life insurance policies, shares and investment. The money is lost only when an individual or the owner of the fund shifts from the house and forget to update the recent details in the bank website or with the respective financial institutions. The unclaimed money that is accumulated by ASIC is finally transferred to the Commonwealth of Australia Consolidated Revenue Fund. This amount is also made available to the rightful owner; however, he could claim it anytime by disclosing identity ("Banking and money | australia.gov.au", 2017).

In order to claim money from the bank account on should contact the bank within 7years of the amount maturity. If not contacted or claimed the account later becomes inactive. It is advised to visit the Australian Securities and Investment Commission website for every detail about unclaimed amount and understanding techniques of claiming the same. 

Question 2

After going through the respective case study on insurer Rodney Adler it has been studied that Adler, the prominent personality in the insurance sector and was also the director of the company, was responsible for the collapse of HHI Insurance and also jailed for circulating misleading statement as a dishonest director. As far as the number of criminal charges is concerned for which he plead guilty were 2 in number. As mentioned above, the first offence was that for sharing misleading information about the company as a director and secondly circulating false information even after knowing that these would lead to the loss for the buyer (Parkinson, 2013).

The Director of Public Prosecutions had its inception in 1983, under the Director of Public Prosecutions Act. It began operations on 8^th of March in 1984. This is an independent body also known as an independent prosecuting agency. This is however not an investigative agency and does not take severe actions. They generally offer advice and assist the Australian Federal Police (AFP) and Australian Crime Commission (ACC) in their investigating process (accounts et al., 2017). 

After going through the respective website and searching for the company named, Albus Holdings Pty Ltd, it has been underpinned that the  ACN for this company is 114 457 402. It was registered dated 26-05-2005 and is scheduled to be reviewed on 26-05-2018. The former name of the company is Hogwarts Pty Ltd (ASIC, 2017). 

The ABN for Harry the Porter is BN20986830 and the company is located at the state of Queensland. Harry the Porter is a registered company under the Australian Securities and Investment Commission. The company was registered on 18.11.2008. The company website shares details in a proper way and informs about ways in which the company functions amidst steep competition (ASIC, 2017).

From the above question and answers, it is evident that companies could be no liability, liability or unlimited liability. There could be proprietary or public companies in Australia that are expected to follow certain business norms and meet government’s instructions. Policies developed to help to streamline business approaches in a significant way.

Conclusion:

Legal issues are endless and complicated. Thus following legal obligations and taking help from legal advisor helps in overcoming issues and grow in business in an honest way. Problems like fraud, financial losses and planning a strategy to lead to financial loss or complete shut down as in the case of the collapse of HHI Insurance are common if not handled properly. 

References

Accounts, C., accounts, F., shopping, O., cards, G., budgeting, C., & ideas, C. et al. (2017). Claim money from bank accounts and bank dividends | ASIC's MoneySmart. Moneysmart.gov.au. Retrieved 17 August 2017, from https://www.moneysmart.gov.au/tools-and-resources/find-unclaimed-money/claim-money-from-bank-accounts-and-bank-dividends

Are you owed money you don't know about?. (2017). ABC News. Retrieved 17 August 2017, from https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-04-26/unclaimed-money-in-australia:-more-than-$1-billion-dormant/8472598

ASIC, N. (2017). Search Company and Other Registers. Connectonline.asic.gov.au. Retrieved 17 August 2017, from https://connectonline.asic.gov.au/RegistrySearch/faces/landing/SearchRegisters.jspx?_adf.ctrl-state=o18rxhiuv_4#

Banking and money | australia.gov.au. (2017). Australia.gov.au. Retrieved 17 August 2017, from https://www.australia.gov.au/information-and-services/money-and-tax/banking-and-money

Barker, D. (2007). Essential Australian law. Sydney, N.S.W.: Routledge/Cavendish.

CORPORATIONS ACT 2001 - SECT 184Good faith, use of position and use of information--criminal offences. (2017). Austlii.edu.au. Retrieved 17 August 2017, from https://www.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/cth/consol_act/ca2001172/s184.html

Harvey, C. (2009). Cornerstones of Australian law. Prahran, Vic.: Tilde University Press.

HARVEY, C. (2017). FOUNDATIONS OF AUSTRALIAN LAW. [Place of publication not identified]: TILDE UNIV PR.

Parkinson, P. (2013). Tradition and change in Australian law. Pyrmont, N.S.W.: Thomson Reuters (Professional) Australia.

Turner, C., & Trone, J. (2016). Australian Commercial Law. Sydney: Thomson Reuters (Professional) Australia Pty Limited.