Civil proceedings filed against Nuplex

The Securities Commission says it will file civil proceedings against resin-based product manufacturer Nuplex Industries and six of its current and former directors in the High Court at Wellington today.

The directors involved are Sydney-based managing director John Hirst, Sydney-based chairman Robert Aitken, and fellow non-executive directors Barbara Gibson, of Melbourne, Michael Wynter, of Sydney, David Jackson, of Auckland, and former non-executive director Bryan Kensington, also of Auckland.

Mr Jackson is also a member of the commission.

The commission is seeking declarations of contravention, pecuniary penalties - which include a maximum penalty of up to $1 million per defendant -and compensatory orders.

The commission alleges that from December 22, 2008, until February 19, 2009, Nuplex, listed on both the NZX and the ASX, breached its continuous disclosure obligations under the NZX Listing Rules and the Securities Markets Act 1988 by failing to disclose to the market a breach of a banking covenant.

Both Nuplex and the directors are responsible for this failure, the commission alleges.

Nuplex representatives could not be contacted last night.

Nuplex manufactures resins for coatings, adhesives, paper and composites and supplies a broad range of functional products to industry.

Its shares remain unchanged at $3.47.

- NZPA