Australia-based miner Fortescue Metals has announced that Australia's High Court has ruled in favor of Fortescue and Fortescue's chairman Andrew Forrest regarding the civil penalty proceedings brought by Australia's corporate regulator Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC).
According to the court decision, Fortescue's ASX statements "accurately recorded what the framework agreement provided." Fortescue has been awarded full costs from each of the Federal Court, Full Federal Court and High Court proceedings.
The ASIC had alleged that Fortescue made misleading and deceptive statements about agreements with three Chinese enterprises which the company termed binding contracts when actually this was not the case.