Ms Derville Rowland:

We have made many proposals to the Law Reform Commission which we believe would be valuable. We took the opportunity to repeat them more recently in the culture report. There will be a hearing on the issue of individual accountability in several weeks’ time on 18 April.

We support the effectiveness of the approach to white collar crime in this jurisdiction. We made a proposal in that regard. It is about capability, resourcing and having the staff to deploy. Capability is a significant component, as has been the case since as far back as the time Mr. Matthew Elderfield told the committee about people, powers and process. One has to have law but also the investigative ability, technology and skill set to do this detailed work.

In the regulatory world the enforcement powers and the administrative sanctions procedure are key tools. Effectively, being able to break the link between participation and proving the allegations against a firm will absolutely strengthen them as a toolkit. We have asked for it and I want to see us get it, together with the individual accountability regime which we have suggested. This is in the vanguard of the approach. The United Kingdom has this regime in place and it is leading edge. Other jurisdictions are moving in this area. We are a leader in Europe in that context. The Australians have had an horrific set of scandals and the authorities are looking at what they term BEAR, banking executive accountability regime. Singapore and Hong Kong are also moving in this direction. It is the right one to take. The effectiveness of the legislative regime will allow us to work it well.

Those are the areas of focus for us.