Consequences of company financing dealings in its shares, etc.
76A.—(1)  The following contracts or transactions made or entered into in contravention of section 76 are void:
(a)a contract or transaction by which a company acquires or purports to acquire its own shares or units of its own shares, or shares or units of shares in its holding company or ultimate holding company, as the case may be;
(b)a contract or transaction by which a company lends money on the security of its own shares or units of its own shares, or on the security of shares or units of shares in its holding company or ultimate holding company, as the case may be.
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(1A)  Subsection (1) does not apply to a disposition of book‑entry securities, but a Court, on being satisfied that a disposition of book‑entry securities would in the absence of this subsection be void may, on the application of the Registrar or any other person, order the transfer of the shares acquired in contravention of subsection (1).
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(2)  Subject to subsection (1), a contract or transaction made or entered into in contravention of section 76, or a contract or transaction related to such contract or transaction, is voidable at the option of the company. The company may, subject to the following provisions of this section, avoid any contract or transaction to which this subsection applies by giving written notice to the other party or parties to the contract or transaction.
(3)  The Court may, on the application of a member of a company, a holder of debentures of a company, a trustee for the holders of debentures of a company or a director of a company, by order, authorise the member, holder of debentures, trustee or director to give a notice or notices under subsection (2) in the name of the company.
(4)  Where —
(a)a company makes or performs a contract, or engages in a transaction;
(b)the contract is made or performed, or the transaction is engaged in, in contravention of section 76 or the contract or transaction is related to a contract that was made or performed, or to a transaction that was engaged in, in contravention of that section; and
(c)the Court is satisfied, on the application of the company or of any other person, that the company or that other person has suffered, or is likely to suffer, loss or damage as a result of —
(i)the making or performance of the contract or the engaging in of the transaction;
(ii)the making or performance of a related contract or the engaging in of a related transaction;
(iii)the contract or transaction being void by reason of subsection (1) or avoided under subsection (2); or
(iv)a related contract or transaction being void by reason of subsection (1) or avoided under subsection (2),
the Court may make such order or orders as it thinks just and equitable (including, without limiting the generality of the foregoing, all or any of the orders mentioned in subsection (5)) against any party to the contract or transaction or to the related contract or transaction, or against the company or against any person who aided, abetted, counselled or procured, or was, by act or omission, in any way, directly or indirectly, knowingly concerned in or party to the contravention.
(5)  The orders that may be made under subsection (4) include —
(a)an order directing a person to refund money or return property to the company or to another person;
(b)an order directing a person to pay to the company or to another person a specified amount of the loss or damage suffered by the company or other person; and
(c)an order directing a person to indemnify the company or another person against any loss or damage that the company or other person may suffer as a result of the contract or transaction or as a result of the contract or transaction being or having become void.
(6)  If a certificate signed by not less than 2 directors, or by a director and a secretary, of a company stating that the requirements of section 76(9A), (9B), (9BA) or (10) (as the case may be), inclusive, have been complied with in relation to the proposed giving by the company of financial assistance for the purposes of an acquisition or proposed acquisition by a person of shares or units in the company or in a holding company or ultimate holding company (as the case may be) of the company is given to a person —
(a)the person to whom the certificate is given is not under any liability to have an order made against the person under subsection (4) by reason of any contract made or performed, or any transaction engaged in, by the person in reliance on the certificate; and
(b)any such contract or transaction is not invalid, and is not voidable under subsection (2), by reason that the contract is made or performed, or the transaction is engaged in, in contravention of section 76 or is related to a contract that was made or performed, or to a transaction that was engaged in, in contravention of that section.
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(7)  Subsection (6) does not apply in relation to a person to whom a certificate is given under that subsection in relation to a contract or transaction if the Court, on application by the company concerned or any other person who has suffered, or is likely to suffer, loss or damage as a result of the making or performance of the contract or the engaging in of the transaction, or the making or performance of a related contract or the engaging in of a related transaction, by order, declares that it is satisfied that the person to whom the certificate was given became aware before the contract was made or the transaction was engaged in that the requirements of section 76(9A), (9B), (9BA) or (10) (as the case may be) had not been complied with in relation to the financial assistance to which the certificate related.
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(8)  For the purposes of subsection (7), a person is, in the absence of proof to the contrary, deemed to have been aware at a particular time of any matter of which an employee or agent of the person having duties or acting on behalf of the person in relation to the relevant contract or transaction was aware at the time.
(9)  In any proceeding, a document purporting to be a certificate given under subsection (6) is, in the absence of proof to the contrary, deemed to be such a certificate and to have been duly given.
(10)  A person who has possession of a certificate given under subsection (6) is, in the absence of proof to the contrary, deemed to be the person to whom the certificate was given.
(11)  If a person signs a certificate stating that the requirements of section 76(9A), (9B), (9BA) or (10) (as the case may be) have been complied with in relation to the proposed giving by a company of financial assistance and any of those requirements had not been complied with in respect of the proposed giving of that assistance at the time when the certificate was signed by that person, the person shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $5,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or to both.
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(12)  It is a defence to a prosecution for an offence under subsection (11) if the defendant proves that at the time when the defendant signed the certificate he or she believed on reasonable grounds that all the requirements of section 76(9A), (9B), (9BA) or (10) (as the case may be) had been complied with in respect of the proposed giving of financial assistance to which the certificate relates.
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(13)  The power of a Court under section 391 to relieve a person to whom that section applies, wholly or partly and on such terms as the Court thinks fit, from a liability mentioned in that section extends to relieving a person against whom an order may be made under subsection (4) from the liability to have such an order made against the person.
(14)  If a company makes a contract or engages in a transaction under which it gives financial assistance as mentioned in section 76(1) or lends money as mentioned in section 76(1A)(b), any contract or transaction made or engaged in as a result of or by means of, or in relation to, that financial assistance or money is deemed for the purposes of this section to be related to the firstmentioned contract or transaction.
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(15)  Any rights or liabilities of a person under this section (including rights or liabilities under an order made by the Court under this section) are in addition to and not in derogation of any rights or liabilities of that person apart from this section but, where there would be any inconsistency between the rights and liabilities of a person under this section or under an order made by the Court under this section and the rights and liabilities of that person apart from this section, the provisions of this section or of the order made by the Court prevails.