Asc Acts Against Fund Manager
The Age
Sunday September 8, 1996
The Australian Securities Commission has revoked the securities dealers licence of a Melbourne specialist fund manager, Australian Theatre Management, after it discovered breaches of the Corporations Law.
In a statement issued yesterday, the commission said the action followed investigations conducted after an ASC surveillance team visited the management company.
ATM manages a scheme known as Australian Live Theatre Venture, which produces and presents theatre productions.
The commission, which said ATM had cooperated during its investigation, also banned an ATM director, Mr Greg Hocking, from participating in the securities industry for 12 months.
The commission said it found that various requirements of ATM's trust deed, and the Corporations Law, had not been met.
In particular, the commission said it was concerned about advance payments made to a company subcontracted to produce plays.
The commission said it had also discovered breaches of ATM's surplus liquid funds requirements, which are intended to ensure short-term liquidity, and that it was concerned to find that investors' money was not maintained separately from ATM's own funds.
``The ASC takes its role in prpotecting investors' funds very seriously and will move to ensure scheme provisions protecting investors are complied with," said the acting Victorian regional commissioner, Mr Pat Whitehouse.
© 1996 The Age