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Reprimand for James Hardie actuary

The Institute of Actuaries of Australia will reprimand David Minty, an actuary employed by James Hardie Industries, for two breaches of its code of conduct.

A complaint against Mr Minty resulted from a report late last year on the Medical Research and Compensation Foundation (MRCF) by the NSW Special Commission of Inquiry.

In a notice in the Australian Financial Review yesterday, the institute said the complaint alleged Mr Minty allowed the distribution of his February 2001 report to third parties, namely MRCF directors, without stating the significant implications of the advice and not disclosing the constraints of independence of the actuary.

And it says he failed to tell James Hardie and the MRCF directors they had proceeded on a serious misunderstanding of the nature, purpose and completeness of his work. As a result he “did not fulfil his public interest obligation to provide high-quality actuarial advice and service”.