According to a statement from ASIC, the regulator is seeking financial penalties and disqualification orders against the company and its chief executive Darren Olney-Fraser, director Donald Christie and former director Matthew Fletcher.
According to the statement, ASIC alleges that “Mariner was reckless as to whether it could perform its obligations under the proposed bid because it did not have the financial resources to fund the bid or any commitment or assurance from another party to fund the bid at the time of the announcement”; that “the announcement was misleading because the proposed bid was at a price less than Mariner was permitted to offer and because it misled the market as to Mariner’s ability to fund the bid”; and that “the directors breached their duties by failing to give sufficient consideration to the steps that needed to be taken before making the announcement”.
