IAG CEO on speed dial to ASIC about top lawyer’s sacking

But the day before the announcement, IAG chief executive Nick Hawkins called ASIC.

“I just took a call,” the Australian Securities and Investments Commission’s then-deputy chairwoman, Karen Chester, said in an internal email headlined “IAG CEO Call” at 5.16pm on a Tuesday in early December.

Complaint raised in October

IAG planned to announce the next morning Mr Horton was leaving. “He has been terminated for breaching their staff code of conduct. The breach in no way relates to ASIC regulatory matters,” the deputy chairwoman’s email said.

She added in the email to her colleague: “Please remind me to chat to you re CEO/Chair calls like this, when I’m in Sydney next week.”

IAG has declined to specify the type of behaviour. IAG’s Mr Hawkins noted in the market announcement that the company’s code included “the importance of being inclusive and respectful, and we will hold people to account if they fail to meet these expectations”.

Sources with knowledge of the departure say a complaint was first raised in October. There is no suggestion of any physical harassment.

The documents indicate the sacking was so rapid IAG itself was grappling with the fallout: “We are working through the matter and considering any regulatory aspects,” IAG’s executive managing of regulatory affairs, Alfred Wong, wrote in an email to ASIC after the announcement hit the ASX.

A similar FOI request to the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority yielded little beyond the ASX announcement; another relevant APRA document was not released on the grounds it was protected information.

IAG has appointed Karen Ingram as interim general counsel. The company, which declined to comment this week, is due to unveil first-half earnings this Friday.

Do you know more? Contact Liam Walsh on Signal app +422 009 744