CONVEYANCERS ACT 2006 - SECT 31 Company may be allowed to hold licence despite disqualifying factors

CONVEYANCERS ACT 2006 - SECT 31

    (1)     A company may apply to the Authority for permission to hold, or to continue to hold, a licence even though—

        (a)     it ceases to have at least one director who is a licensee; or

        (b)     it, or one of its directors, is a person in relation to whom a claim has been allowed against the Fund; or

        (c)     it has been convicted or found guilty of an offence involving fraud, dishonesty, drug trafficking or violence that, if it was a natural person, would be punishable by imprisonment for 3 months or more; or

        (d)     one of its directors is a person who has, within the last 10 years in Australia or elsewhere, been convicted or found guilty of any offence involving fraud, dishonesty, drug trafficking or violence which was punishable by imprisonment for 3 months or more, but who is still eligible to be a director of the company under the Corporations Act despite the conviction or finding of guilt.

    (2)     An application must—

        (a)     be in the form approved by the Authority; and

        (b)     contain the information required by the Authority; and

        (c)     be accompanied by any documents required by the Authority; and

        (d)     be accompanied by the prescribed fee (if any).

    (3)     The Authority may give its permission if it is satisfied—

        (a)     that the giving of the permission is not contrary to the public interest; and

        (b)     in the case of an application made in the circumstances described in subsection (1)(b)—

              (i)     that the applicant has refunded, or has made arrangements to refund, all amounts paid out of the Fund in respect of the claim; and

              (ii)     that there were exceptional circumstances which gave rise to the claim against the applicant; and

              (iii)     that, having regard to the conduct of the applicant before and after the claim, there is no reasonable expectation that the applicant will not comply with this Act and the regulations in future; and

        (c)     in the case of an application made in the circumstances described in subsection (1)(b) involving a director or in subsection (1)(d), that there is a substantive reason why that person should remain a director of the company.

    (4)     In considering an application, the Authority may—

        (a)     conduct any inquiries it thinks fit;

        (b)     require the applicant to provide any further information relating to the application that the Authority thinks fit in the manner required by the Authority;

        (c)     seek advice and information on the application from any other person or body as it thinks fit.

    (5)     The Authority may refuse to give its permission if the applicant does not provide the further information required, or any consent needed by the Authority to obtain that information, within a reasonable time after the requirement is made.