De facto director banned after Five Star collapse

The Companies Office yesterday banned another finance company boss from being a director or manager of any company for the next five years.

Although not a registered director, Neal Allan Williams was deemed by the Companies Office to have been a de facto director of Five Star Finance and Five Star Consumer Finance.

Deputy Registrar of Companies Peter Barker said Williams was unable to satisfy him that the way in which he managed the affairs of the Five Star group of companies "was not at least partly a cause of the failure of those companies".

Several months ago Barker banned Five Star's registered directors Marcus Arthur MacDonald, Nicholas George Kirk and Anthony Walpole Bowden.

Five Star Consumer Finance collapsed in August 2007 owing $63 million, including $54.43 million to debenture holders. Receiver Richard Agnew of PricewaterhouseCoopers has said most loans in Five Star's commercial book, which accounted for $41 million of the company's $65 million in lending, were made "outside normal commercial lending practices".

Agnew has said secured debenture holders will get about 25c in the dollar of their principal. Any further payments depend on the outcome of ongoing court action. Five Star's directors also face criminal charges under the Securities Act.

Williams has also been linked to $19 million in questionable loans and the failure of other finance companies.