23 May 2011

Appointments and Reappointments to both the Corporations and Markets Advisory Committee (CAMAC) and the Legal Committee of CAMAC

I am pleased to announce a number of new appointments and reappointments to both the Corporations and Markets Advisory Committee (CAMAC) and the Legal Committee of CAMAC.

I have appointed Ms Denise McComish, Ms Jane McAloon, Mr David Gomez and Mr Michael Murray and reappointed Professor Ian Ramsay, Ms Alice McCleary, Dr Geoffrey Nicoll and Mr Greg Vickery each as part-time members of CAMAC for a three year period from 23 May 2011.

I have appointed Ms Rosey Batt to the Legal Committee of CAMAC for a three year period from 23 May 2011and reappointed Ms Rachel Webber and Mr Damian Egan each as part-time members to the Legal Committee for a three year period from 9 September 2011.

I have also reappointed Mr Greg Vickery as the part-time Convenor of the Legal Committee for a further three year period from 23 May 2011.

CAMAC is established under Part 9 of the Australian Securities and Investments Commission Act 2001 (ASIC Act) to advise the Minister on matters concerning companies, financial products and services, the efficiency of financial markets and the making, amendment, operation, administration, or reform of the Corporations Act 2001 and the ASIC Act. 

These new appointments and reappointments to both CAMAC and its Legal Committee ensure that we continue to have highly-qualified members who bring to their roles a valuable range of skills and experience.

23 May 2011


ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Corporations and Markets Advisory Committee (CAMAC)

New Appointments

Ms Denise McComish has been a partner at KPMG in Perth for over 20 years.  She has extensive experience providing audit and assurance services to major companies operating in Western Australia, nationally and globally, particularly in the financial services, infrastructure and mining sectors. She regularly reports on internal controls, governance and risk issues to Boards and Audit Committees. She also has extensive technical experience in International Financial Reporting Standards, and served for six years on the Australian Accounting Standards Board. She is a fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia, a Council member and Chair of the Audit Committee of Edith Cowan University, and a director of other not-for-profit organisations.

Ms Jane McAloon has been the Group Company Secretary, BHP Billiton Limited since 2006, providing advice to the Chairman and Board on all Board matters including governance practices.  Her previous role was Group Manager, Corporate & External Services & Company Secretary at the Australian Gas Light Company (AGL), delivering key elements of corporate transactions and managing AGL's corporate reputation (retail interface with over 3 million customers) and strategic regulatory outcomes. She spent six years working for the New South Wales Government, holding senior positions in the NSW Cabinet Office, the Department of Energy and Utilities and the Department of Land and Water Conservation. Prior to that, she was a Ministerial Advisor in the Office of the Prime Minister and in the Office of the Federal Minister for Employment, Education and Training. Her experience encompasses non-executive Director roles on both private sector and Government Boards, dealing with a wide range of regulatory and strategic policy issues.

Mr David Gomez is an accountant and lawyer with significant experience in corporations law. He is the Principal of Audit and Assurance Services with Merit Partners Chartered Accountants, with responsibility for audit and assurance engagements in the Northern Territory, Western Australia and East Timor. He also manages external audits on behalf of the Northern Territory Auditor General and the Australian National Audit Office. His previous positions include as Director Operations with Australian Securities and Investments Commission's (ASIC) Northern Territory Regional Office, a lawyer with the Australian Government Solicitor and as Manager of Fraud Prevention and Internal Audit for the Commonwealth Department of Employment Education Training and Youth Affairs in Darwin, and as an insolvency accountant with PKF Chartered Accountants. At ASIC, he conducted accounting and compliance reviews of the financial reports of publicly listed companies, and was involved in compliance assessments of insolvency administrations. He has lectured in corporations law at Charles Darwin University. He is currently a member of the ASIC Regional Liaison Committee and the Northern Territory Local Government Accounting Advisory Committee. He was recently the President of the Northern Territory branch of CPA Australia.

Mr Michael Murray is the Legal Director of the IPA, based in Sydney, a position he has held since 2007. In that role he is responsible for providing legal input into the submissions and thinking of the IPA, monitoring legal and practice developments in insolvency, advising the IPA board, and IPA members on current insolvency issues.  He also advises on IPA's education, membership and governance issues; and is involved in preparing and presenting at IPA events.  He gives talks on insolvency for universities, law societies and government and offers articles for publication.  He was previously a lawyer with the Australian Government Solicitor working in insolvency and regulatory law advising ITSA, the ATO and ACCC.  He was a solicitor assisting on the HIH Royal Commission.  He is the author of Keay's Insolvency (7th Ed, with Jason Harris) and of CCH's Australian Insolvency Management Practice.   He is on the editorial board of the Insolvency Law Journal and he writes for the Insolvency Law Bulletin, which he founded in 2000. He has a Bachelor of Laws and a Diploma in Criminology from the University of Sydney and has completed Advanced Insolvency Law and Practice I and II from the University of Southern Queensland.

Reappointments

Professor Ian Ramsay has been a member since 2000. He is the Harold Ford Professor of Commercial Law in the Faculty of Law at the University of Melbourne where he is Director of the Centre for Corporate Law and Securities Regulation. He has practised law with firms in New York and Sydney. He is a member of the Takeovers Panel, the Companies Auditors and Liquidators Disciplinary Board, the Law Committee of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and the Corporations Law Committee of the Law Council of Australia. Former positions he has held include Dean, Faculty of Law, University of Melbourne and Head of the Federal Government inquiry on auditor independence and member of the International Federation of Accountants taskforce on rebuilding confidence in financial reporting. He has published extensively on corporate law issues both internationally and in Australia.

Ms Alice McCleary has been a member since 2005. She is a professional director and chartered accountant. She is a member of several boards and committees in the private and public sectors. She is also a member of the Takeovers Panel. Her professional background is in corporate taxation.

Dr Geoffrey Nicoll has been a member since 2008. He is an Executive Member of the Business Law Section of the Law Council of Australia. Since 2003, he has also sat as the Law Council's representative on the Business Advisory Committee of ASIC. At the University of Canberra, Geoff was the Director of the National Centre for Corporate Law and Policy Research (from 2006-2009), Acting Head of the Law School (2005), Director of the University's Governance Research Area (2004), and an Academic Director of the National Institute for Governance (2000-2003).

Mr Gregory Vickery has been a member since 2005. He is Special Counsel at Norton Rose Australia.  He has been practising law as a partner for over 35 years, primarily in the corporate and commercial areas. He is an Adjunct Professor of Law at the University of Queensland and regularly speaks on aspects of company law. He is a member of the Regional ASIC Committee in Queensland and of several Boards, and is National Chairman of Australian Red Cross and a member of the Governing Board of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement.

Legal Committee of CAMAC

Convenor

Mr Gregory Vickery has been the Convenor since 2010. He is Special Counsel at Norton Rose Australia. He has been practising law as a partner for over 35 years, primarily in the corporate and commercial areas. He is an Adjunct Professor of Law at the University of Queensland and regularly speaks on aspects of company law. He is a member of the Regional ASIC Committee in Queensland and of several Boards, and is National Chairman of Australian Red Cross and a member of the Governing Board of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement.

New Appointments

Ms Rosey Batt is the Principal of Rosey Batt and Associates, which she founded in 2001 after spending a number of years as a partner with Minter Ellison and then Norman Waterhouse. Her primary areas of practice are in Business Transactions, Trade Practices, Commercialisation of Business Opportunities, Intellectual Property, Agriculture and Corporate Governance. She has had extensive commercial legal experience acting for Publicly Listed Corporations, SME's and individuals and in complex Aviation, Corporations Law, Banking and Finance and Trade Practices litigation. As well as being a facilitator for the Australian Institute of Company Directors in their Company Directors Course, she has extensive Board experience and currently sits on several Private and Not for Profit Boards.

Reappointments

Ms Rachel Webber has been a member since 2008. She is a Special Counsel at Jackson McDonald, practising in corporate and commercial law. Her primary areas of expertise include corporations law advice, with an emphasis on financial services regulation, corporate fundraising, ASX compliance, managed investments, mergers and acquisitions and general commercial law. She is the convenor of the Commercial Law Committee of the Law Society of Western Australia and is a member of the Corporations Committee of the Business Law Section of the Law Council of Australia.

Mr Damian Egan has been a member since 1997. He is a commercial law partner and President of the Retirement Benefits Fund Board (Tasmania). He is a member of several Boards and a member of the Faculty of Accounting and Commerce at the University of Tasmania.

23 May 2011