NO.105

I am pleased to announce that the Governor-General in Council has today appointed

Mr David Knott as the new Chairman of the Australian Securities and Investments

Commission (ASIC) and Ms Jillian Segal as the new Deputy Chair. The appointments take

effect from 18 November 2000.

Mr Knott, who was previously Deputy Chairman, replaces Mr Alan Cameron, AM

who will complete an 8 year term as Chairman on 17 November.

Mr Cameron was first appointed Chairman of the then Australian Securities

Commission in January 1993. Under his leadership, the Commission has cemented its

reputation internationally and within the Australian business community as a leading

securities regulator. This has been achieved at a time of significant change affecting

both its traditional role as corporate regulator and the new responsibilities for investor

protection and financial market integrity it assumed in 1998.

I want to place on record the Government’s appreciation for the substantial

contribution Mr Cameron has made to ASIC and to Australia during his period as

Chairman.

Mr Knott brings a wide range of skills and experience to his new position. He

spent 13 years in private legal practice, specialising in company and commercial law,

before assuming senior roles in investment banking and public administration. In 1992 he

became inaugural Executive Director of the Australian Financial Institutions Commission,

which was established by the State and Territory governments to regulate credit unions,

building societies and friendly societies. He then served as Chief Executive of

Commonwealth Funds Management before being appointed Chief Operating Officer of the

Australian Prudential Regulation Authority in 1998. He has been Deputy Chairman of ASIC

since July 1999.

Prior to Ms Segal’s appointment as a member of ASIC in October 1997, she

worked in private legal practice specialising in corporate and environmental law. She has

also been a company director with particular experience in the financial services sector

and a member of the Legal Sub-committee of the Companies and Securities Advisory

Committee.

Mr Knott will continue to be based in Melbourne while Ms Segal will be based in

Sydney. Additional biographical information is attached.

The Government is currently considering the filling of the position of full-time member

previously occupied by Ms Segal.

CANBERRA

9 November 2000

After graduating in law from Melbourne University in 1970, David Knott spent 13 years

in private practice, specialising in company and commercial law. He was appointed to the

partnership of Arthur Robinson & Co (now Arthur Robinson & Hedderwicks) in 1976.

Mr Knott subsequently moved to the investment banking sector where he occupied leading

corporate finance roles for a decade. He was appointed Senior Executive Director of Capel

Court Corporation in 1986 and was responsible for the group’s mergers and

acquisitions business.

Since 1992 Mr Knott’s career has centred on public administration. He was the

inaugural Executive Director of the Australian Financial Institutions Commission which was

established by State and Territory governments to regulate credit unions, building

societies and friendly societies. He then served for a short period as Chief Executive of

Commonwealth Funds Management pending its sale by the Commonwealth.

In 1998 Mr Knott was appointed to assist with the establishment of the Australian

Prudential Regulation Authority in Sydney. As Chief Operating Officer he played a primary

role in APRA’s formation, strategic planning and structuring.

Since July 1999, he has been Deputy Chairman of the Australian Securities and

Investments Commission — one of three full-time Commissioners involved in the senior

management and administration of the Commission. He has been based at the

Commission’s Melbourne office.

Jillian Segal is a lawyer specialising in corporate and environmental law.

Ms Segal spent 17 years in private legal practice, becoming a partner of Allen

Allen and Hemsley in 1986 and a consultant to the firm in 1993. In 1996 she became a

special counsel with Dunhill Madden and Butler.

During this time she was also a company director with particular expertise in the

financial services sector.

Since October 1997, Ms Segal has been a Sydney-based member of the Australian

Securities and Investments Commission.

Among Ms Segal’s other interests, she was a part-time lecturer at the

University of New South Wales, a Professorial Fellow in the Faculty of Law at the

University of Wollongong and a member of the Legal Sub-committee of the Companies and

Securities Advisory Committee.