Tabcorp seeks to clarify court claims over withholding board minutes

Wednesday 24th of February 2016

Tabcorp is seeking to clarify a Federal Court judge’s claim that it is refusing to make board minutes available in relation to ‘dirty money’ claims brought to the court by the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Center (Austrac), according to Sydney Morning Herald.

The judge last week had questioned why Tabcorp would not release the minutes from its audit, risk and compliance board meetings. At a directions hearing earlier in the week, Tabcorp clarified that it did not want to suppress its board minutes, according to a source quoted by the Australian newspaper.

Federal Court Judge Nye Perram is expected to make a decision over the next few days whether board minutes are required as part of claims brought by Austrac.

"It strikes me as quite untenable for a listed entity seriously to advance in a superior court the submission that it would be oppressive for it to be required to produce the minutes of its directors' meetings," said Perram.

"Tabcorp is of course very respectful of the Court and the Judge," said a Tabcorp spokesman. "However, Tabcorp did have some concerns about aspects of the reasons for judgment. Tabcorp has raised these with the Judge and His Honour is currently considering them."

Austrac and Tabcorp will face each other in Federal Court in September, after claims Tabcorp had failed to inform the regulator that more than 30 TAB accounts were opened to filter fraudulent credit cards for organized crime figures.

The Federal Court has ruled that Tabcorp must start to produce some early evidence for the case by Mar. 14 rather than May, its preferred timeline, however, Justice Perram said he sceptical of the time Tabcorp said it would take to produce some evidence.

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