Recruitment firm fined for financial reporting failures

Hudson Global Resources (Aust) Pty Ltd has been fined $270,000 for failing to meet its financial reporting obligations as a large proprietary company. The company was convicted and fined on 21 July 2026, at the Downing Centre Local Court.

According to ASIC, Hudson – a large proprietary company – was required to lodge audited financial reports with the corporate regulator for its financial years for 2022, 2023, and 2024.

These reporting requirements are in place to help those dealing with these businesses make informed decisions and “support the integrity of Australia’s financial system”, ASIC said.

It urged companies to check whether they are required to lodge financial reports, confirm their applicable lodgment deadline, and ensure audit and board approval processes are scheduled early enough to meet that deadline.

Failure to lodge full-year financial reports with ASIC is a breach of sections 319(1) and 1311(1) of the Corporations Act.

A proprietary company is defined as being “large” or “small”. ASIC noted that the thresholds that define a large proprietary company increased on 1 July 2019.

A proprietary company is defined as large for a financial year if it satisfies at least two of the below criteria:

• The consolidated revenue for the company and any entities it controls for the financial year is $50 million or more.
• The value of the consolidated gross assets at the end of the financial year of the company and any entities it controls is $25 million or more.
• The company and any entities it controls have 100 or more employees at the end of the financial year.

Large proprietary companies must prepare and lodge a financial report and a director's report for each financial year. The accounts must be audited unless ASIC grants relief.

If the company does not meet at least two of the above criteria, it is “small”. In some circumstances, ASIC said, small proprietary companies may also have to lodge financial reports.

The latest outcome from breaching financial reporting obligations is part of ASIC’s 2026 enforcement focus on non-lodgments of financial reports. In November 2025, the corporate regulator announced that financial reporting misconduct and failure to lodge financial reports would be among its new enforcement priorities in 2026. As such, ASIC said it will “step up” enforcement action against financial reporting misconduct.

Indeed, it has issued infringement notices totalling more than $5 million since beginning its broad surveillance, focused on alleged late lodgment and non-lodgment of financial reports, in August 2025.

Most recently, it issued infringement notices to three companies within supply chain logistics operator Mainfreight Group totalling $594,000.

It also issued infringement notices to Canva (which paid $792,000 in penalties for failing to lodge financial reports on time), fashion and beauty retailers trading under Zara, H&M, and Sephora brands (which paid $596,000), and three proprietary companies associated with beauty retailer Mecca Group (which paid $594,000).

In addition, ASIC has obtained court-imposed fines for failing to lodge financial reports and related governance obligations, including more than $1.1 million in fines against three public companies in a single day at the Downing Centre Local Court.