ABC News Online
Sunday, November 16, 2003. 11:48am (AEDT)
Ansett continues to bug ASIC head
Outgoing Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) chairman David Knott says the collapse of Ansett is his greatest disappointment in his time in the job.
Mr Knott has held the position at the ASIC for 10 years but leaves shortly, planning to return to the commercial sector.
He has told ABC TV's Inside Business program that his hands were tied when it came to Ansett.
"It's not that it slipped through our fingers, it's simply that we couldn't do anything about it," Mr Knott said.
"We went through a very extensive investigation you might recall.
"Our own view was that Air New Zealand's conduct was unacceptable, and I do not believe to this day that it was acceptable.
"But in the end, the law was against us and we simply had nowhere to go."
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