The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has referred the names of three more people to the Director of Public Prosecutions over the HIH collapse.

ASIC Chairman David Knott wouldn’t name the three in an interview on Channel 9’s Business Sunday program. “I don’t want to say anything about the people or the matters because the DPP now has to assess that information and decide whether to lay charges; so, in fairness, we need to wait.”

With talk of as many as 1000 alleged breaches of the Corporations Law mooted by HIH Royal Commission Counsel Assisting Wayne Martin, Mr Knott said royal commissioner Neville Owen has a “very unenviable job of sorting out the wheat from the chaff”.

The list of breaches includes numerous cases of potential criminal activity, but Mr Knott said ASIC will wait for recommendations from Justice Owen before taking further action. ASIC may need to further increase its HIH investigation budget, despite being given an extra $5 million by the Federal Government in 2002.

“It really depends on what Commissioner Owen does, but it may not just be a matter of how much money,” Mr Knott said. “It may be a question how these things are to be taken forward.”

If the issue escalates beyond ASIC’s capacity, it may need to develop a taskforce to handle the situation which incorporates other organisations, he said.