Matthew Anthony Lyall of Shailer Park, Queensland, has been disqualified from managing corporations for four years after his involvement in six failed companies.

Mr Lyall was a director of six companies that went into liquidation between 2016 and 2020:

• Yatala Labour Hire Pty Ltd ACN 613 362 762 (Yatala Labour Hire);
• JMS Installation Pty Ltd ACN 609 100 147 (JMS);
• Lyall Rigging Pty Ltd ACN 600 152 494 (Lyall Rigging);
• TMS Install Pty Ltd ACN 089 211 567 (TMS);
• JMS 2 Pty Ltd ACN 610 249 100 (JMS 2); and
• Optima Lending Solutions Pty Ltd ACN 136 357 189 (Optima).

Yatala Labour Hire provided labour hire services to JMS, Lyall Rigging and JMS 2. TMS operated in the manufacturing industry. Optima was involved in the financial and insurance services industry and operated as a mortgage broker.

ASIC found Mr Lyall failed to appropriately exercise his powers and discharge his duties as a director by:

• failing to comply with statutory obligations of lodgment of financial records with the Australian Tax Office (ATO) in relation to Yatala Labour Hire;
• failing to take all reasonable steps to ensure that JMS 2 complied with its obligations to keep written financial records and from incurring debts when JMS 2 was likely to be insolvent; and
• assisting in the sale of Optima’s only material asset for no consideration to the detriment of Optima and its creditors, and for the benefit of another party.

The total amount owed to unsecured creditors for all six companies is estimated at $2,095,418 of which $519,578 is owed to the ATO.

In making the decision to disqualify Mr Lyall, ASIC relied on supplementary reports lodged by Peter Dinoris of Artemis Insolvency (liquidator of Yatala Labour Hire), Domenico Calabretta of Mackay Goodwin (liquidator of JMS 2) and Mike Hill of McGrathNicol (liquidator of Optima).

ASIC assisted the liquidators in preparation of the supplementary reports by providing funding from the Assetless Administration Fund.

Mr Lyall is disqualified form managing corporations until 30 July 2025.

Background

ASIC has the power to disqualify a person from managing corporations for up to five years if, within a seven-year period, the person was an officer of two or more companies that were wound up and the liquidators lodge reports with ASIC about each company’s inability to pay its debts or alleging misconduct.

ASIC maintains a banned and disqualified persons register that provides information about people who have been disqualified from:

• involvement in the management of a corporation;
• auditing self-managed superannuation funds (SMSFs); or
• practicing in the financial services or credit industry.