Australian corporate governance : lessons from HIH Insurance

Francis (2000) said: “With economic opportunities come criminal ones, as well as opportunities for unethical profit”. There is no doubt that in Australia’s current economic climate this statement is being proven correct. Australia has been inundated recently with cases of corporate fraud, market manipulation, insider trading and corporate collapses. Are there lessons to be learnt? This article addresses one of the common issues that arises in modern corporations: How can corporate crimes be prevented through better corporate governance processes? In order to answer this question, this article will examine some major corporate law litigations throughout recent and less recent history and the ramifications that white collar crimes have had on individuals and the companies they have been involved in