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US asked to probe Hardie on asbestos
07.10.2004
SYDNEY - The New South Wales Premier has written to the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), urging it to investigate James Hardie Industries, the biggest maker of home siding in America, over an asbestos row.
Bob Carr said yesterday that he had sent a state-commissioned inquiry's 1000-page report on Hardie to the SEC.
The report found that Hardie underfunded a pool of compensation money for sufferers of asbestos-related disease by up to A$2 billion ($2.1 billion).
Hardie moved its headquarters three years ago to the Netherlands and listed on the New York Stock Exchange, whose activities are overseen by the SEC.
"It is in the bailiwick of the Securities and Exchange Commission to supervise what this company is doing," Carr said.
Carr's comments come as Hardie, which initially said it was not liable to provide more funds for disease sufferers but then agreed to plug the shortfall, holds talks with unions and victims on how it will do this.
The inquiry also found that chief executive Peter Macdonald and chief financial officer Peter Shafron broke the law by engaging in "misleading and deceptive" conduct over the A$293 million pool set up in 2001.
The scandal, which has turned into a public relations nightmare for Hardie, has forced Macdonald and Shafron to stand aside from their posts, although they remain with the company.
Hardie earns about 80 per cent of its nearly A$1 billion in annual sales in the US.
Hardie stock last traded at A$5.89, still about 25 percent below its record high of A$7.81 touched in October before the shortfall woes emerged.
- REUTERS
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