ESG Enforcement Tracker

Key facts:

The ASIC issued three infringement notices in relation to statements contained in three Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) announcements made by Black Mountain Energy Ltd (BME) between 23 December 2021 and 8 September 2022. These statements claimed that:

1. BME was creating a natural gas development project with ‘net-zero carbon emissions’; and
2. the greenhouse gas emissions associated with Project Valhalla would be net zero.

The ASIC was concerned that the company did not have a reasonable basis to make the representations or that the representations were not factually correct. Notably, all three infringement notices issued by the ASIC noted that BME had contravened with the ASIC Act in that, among other things, BME had no credible basis for asserting that the natural gas it produced would be carbon neutral.

BME paid AUD$39,960 to comply with the infringement notices. The ASIC noted in its press release that payment of an infringement notice is not an admission of guilt or liability.