WiseTech issues prompted 'healthy' debate on corporate culture, says ASIC's Longo
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The news: Scrutiny of WiseTech Global following revelations about the personal life of its founder, Richard White, is contributing to an important debate on corporate culture but may not lead to court action, Australian Securities and Investments Commission chairman Joe Longo has told a Senate estimates hearing.
"There's been some personal misbehaviour," Longo said, as he confirmed statements earlier this week that ASIC was making preliminary inquiries into "what’s going on at WiseTech and the extraordinary manoeuvres at board level".
"Whether those preliminary inquiries lead to a formal investigation remains to be seen," Longo added.
Longo told the committee personal misbehaviour can lead to governance issues in a company, but "whether that leads to actionable breaches of the Corporations Act that ASIC can do something about — that's another matter".
It's "very healthy" to continue discussions about governance and culture, Longo said.
The context: WiseTech, the ASX's most valuable technology company, revealed on Monday that four independent directors including the chairman — or two-thirds of its six-person board — had resigned over White’s continued involvement.
Earlier this month, former employee Caroline Heidemann filed legal action against White, his wife Zena Nasser and RealWise Management, around the same time WiseTech confirmed it had received two new confidential complaints relating to White. The company's board cleared him of inappropriate conduct late last year.
The sources: ASIC, Senate estimate hearings
