Where ASIC and a defendant agree on penalties for admitted contraventions of the Corporations Act, the Court will not depart from the agreed penalty if it falls broadly within the 'permissible range' having regard to all circumstances. General deterrence is the most important factor in fixing pecuniary penalties under s 1317G. Contraventions of s 180(1) that involve failures to make enquiries or inform the board, without dishonesty or moral turpitude, are properly characterised as negligence-based and attract penalties at the lower end of the scale, though they may still be 'serious' for the purposes of s 1317G.
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