The dust is yet to settle following last week’s dismissal of Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) legal proceedings against One.Tel former joint MD Jodee Rich and finance director Mark Silbermann.

ASIC alleged the two men misled the One.Tel board about the company’s true financial position and breached their duties as directors by not ceasing to trade in February 2001, three months before the company went into administration.

But NSW Supreme Court judge Justice Robert Austin says the regulator’s case proved unpersuasive when the underlying financial detail was investigated.

The decision looms as a costly one for ASIC, with media speculation putting the costs awarded against it around $35 million. The regulator says it is sifting through the judgement of more than 3000 pages and will decide as soon as possible on whether to appeal.

In the wake of the decision, there has been mounting media speculation about possible legal pursuit of former One.Tel non-executive directors James Packer and Lachlan Murdoch.