Complaint by the Hubbard Support Team and others concerning a recommendation for statutory management made by the Securities Commission to the Minister of Commerce on 19 June 2010
The Complaint
In July 2010, I received a complaint from members of the Hubbard Support Team and others concerning a recommendation that was made by the Securities Commission (Commission), acting by division, to the Minister of Commerce (Minister) on 19 June 2010.
The Commission’s recommendation, made pursuant to s 38 of the Corporations (Investigation and Management) Act 1989, was that Aorangi Securities Limited (Aorangi), seven unregistered charitable trusts, and Mr Allan and Mrs Margaret (Jean) Hubbard should be placed under statutory management.
The Minister accepted the recommendation on 20 June 2010, and by Order in Council the Governor-General declared Aorangi, the charitable trusts and Mr and Mrs Hubbard to be subject to statutory management.
The complaint that I received alleged that a member of the Commission involved in the making of the recommendation, Mr Simon Botherway, had an undisclosed conflict of interest, or “potential conflict of interest”, on account of his brother’s previous business connection with South Canterbury Finance Limited (SCF). Until 28 May 2010, Mr Hubbard had been a director of SCF and effectively owned SCF via another entity, Southbury Corporation Limited.