Co-written by Mr Damian Lovell
The recent collapse of the US giant energy trader, Enron Corporation, has raised a number of interesting legal issues concerning corporate governance and the role of auditors and the ability of investors to rely upon company accounts. It has also produced the familiar hysteria of media commentators speculating as to the assumed massive liability of those involved in the collapse: executive and non-executive directors, executives, accounting advisers and auditors, legal advisers, stock analysts, brokers, financial advisers, regulators and so on.
Such reactions to corporate failures in Australia are not unknown and tend to follow a similar path. Indeed, there are some obvious recent examples.
