Costs stand in failed ASIC case against liquidator

Worrells partner Jason Bettles has failed in his bid to elevate the costs ASIC has to pay him to indemnity costs, despite having made a generous offer to settle the case against him in exchange for an 18-month suspension of his liquidator’s registration and a payment of $350,000 to ASIC for its costs. The Court acknowledged that ASIC would have achieved a “considerably better result” had it accepted the offer, but declined to award indemnity costs due to ASIC’s role as a regulator and the fact that there was no evidence that it acted with ulterior motive, among other reasons. Read the decision here.