ASIC takes Centro to court over accounts | Business Breaking News | News.com.au

directors. ASIC alleges they failed to exercise due care and diligence in approving the financial reports for Centro Properties Ltd, Centro Property Trust and Centro Retail Trust for the year ended June 30, 2007. ASIC will ask the court to fine them and impose penalties. The allegations surround alleged material misstatements for about $2.1 billion in interest-bearing liabilities wrongly classified as non-current liabilities rather than current liabilities. The 2007 balance sheets of Centro Properties and Centro Property Trust did not correctly classify $1.514 billion of interest-bearing liabilities as current in addition to the $1.096 billion already classified as current, ASIC said in a statement. Centro Retail Trust's 2007 balance sheet did not correctly classify $598.3 million of interest-bearing liabilities as current, ASIC added. ASIC also contends that these directors and the officer knew that the entities had very significant short term interest bearing liabilities, and should have known that these liabilities were incorrectly classified in the 2007 financial reports. This is the first case brought where a written declaration by a listed entity's chief executive and chief financial officer to directors over the financial accounts' compliance with accounting standards will be an issue before the court, ASIC said. Centro Properties Group posted a $3.5 million annual net loss to June 30, 2009, while Centro Retail Group reported a $2.67 million annual net loss for the same period.