The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) reported that the Federal Court has disqualified three former Youpla Group directors from managing corporations for five to 10 years and imposed pecuniary penalties totaling AUD 90,000 for breaches of their directors’ duties. Youpla operated funeral insurance funds predominantly marketed to Indigenous Australians and entered liquidation in March 2022.
Jonathan Glen Law received a six-year disqualification and an AUD 50,000 penalty. Michael Wilson was disqualified for 10 years and ordered to pay AUD 20,000, while Geoffrey Clayton received a five-year disqualification and an AUD 20,000 penalty. Law breached his duties in relation to one Youpla company, while Wilson and Clayton breached their duties in relation to three companies.
ASIC launched proceedings against five former Youpla directors and officers in August 2023. Its case alleged that insurance arrangements with Crown Insurance Services Limited, beneficially owned and controlled by Law and former director Ronald Pattenden, were not in Youpla’s interests and left the group vulnerable to unaffordable premium increases. In earlier decisions on Oct. 30, 2026, the court disqualified Pattenden for 15 years and imposed an AUD 250,000 penalty. It also found that former director Bryn Jones breached his duties, with any penalties to be determined at a separate hearing.