Full background report
Richard Clarke
Chief Financial Officer / Company Secretary
Career chronology
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Appointed permanently 2026-08-04; interim CFO/CoSec from 2026-05-29; joined as Head of Finance and Commercial in October 2025: TerraCom Limited — Chief Financial Officer and Company Secretary. Company: Executive Management (Richard Clarke section, lines 100–106); FY2026 Audited Annual Report (Corporate directory and directors’ report, p. 5); Annual Report 2025 (FY2025 report confirms previous CFO/CoSec Jen Williams resigned 7 August 2025, p. 30)
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Prior career; exact chronology not established: Bowen Coking Coal, Glencore, Peabody Energy and BHP — Prior senior finance/commercial positions in listed coal mining groups; individual titles/employer dates not stated. Company: Executive Management (Richard Clarke section, lines 100–106)
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Award/membership dates not stated: Professional qualifications — Chartered Accountant; BCom (Accounting) and BSc, University of Queensland; issuer reported. Company: Executive Management (Richard Clarke section, lines 100–106)
Litigation and enforcement
Historical TerraCom ASIC case resolved; no personal link established
Conduct in 2020; court resolution 2025; latest collection record 31 May 2026 · documented · medium materiality
ASIC’s proceeding arose from 2020 TerraCom announcements and former-officer conduct. TerraCom admitted a whistleblower-victimisation contravention and the Court imposed a $7.5m penalty and $1m costs in 2025; ASIC later confirmed dismissal of its case against four former officers. An ASIC FOI release listed TerraCom among defendants with pecuniary penalties outstanding as at 31 May 2026 (including partial-payment matters); the final $3.5m instalment was due by 30 June 2026. The reviewed public record does not establish payment by the 9 October 2026 cutoff. Clarke joined TerraCom in October 2025, after the underlying conduct, and was not named as a defendant; no personal responsibility link is established.
Attribution: Employer context; no individual link established. This is historical employer context only. It predates or is unrelated to the current executives’ documented roles; no personal involvement is established.
Relevance: Provides company governance context, but does not support an adverse personal conclusion about the current CFO or interim CEO.
ASIC sues TerraCom Limited and current/former officers (23-045MR) (Media release, background and editor updates through May 2025); Australian Securities and Investments Commission v TerraCom Limited [2025] FCA 726 (Judgment, final decision on allegations against former officers); Australian Securities and Investments Commission v TerraCom Ltd (No 3) [2025] FCA 1017 (Reasons for judgment, finding and penalty against TerraCom); 25-179MR TerraCom to pay $7.5 million after ASIC whistleblower action (25-179MR; admitted company contravention, penalty and resolution of officer case); ASIC FOI 124-2026, unpaid pecuniary penalties outstanding as at 31 May 2026 (ASIC FOI 124-2026: TerraCom listed as outstanding 31 May 2026); Australian Securities and Investments Commission v TerraCom Ltd (No 3) [2025] FCA 1017 (Orders paragraphs 3–4: total penalty and payment schedule)
Suitability for the current role
Public evidence of fit for Chief Financial Officer / Company Secretary
TerraCom Head of Finance and Commercial from October 2025; interim CFO/CoSec from 29 May 2026; permanent appointment 4 August 2026 · analyst inference · medium materiality
The issuer biography reports Clarke is a Chartered Accountant with more than 20 years in accounting, commercial/corporate finance, capital raising and debt financing, with prior finance roles at Bowen Coking Coal, Glencore, Peabody and BHP; it lists UQ BCom (Accounting) and BSc. He joined TerraCom as Head of Finance and Commercial in October 2025, became interim CFO/Company Secretary on 29 May 2026, and was appointed permanently on 4 August 2026. Exact prior titles and employer dates were not found in reviewed primary sources; credentials are reported by the issuer.
Attribution: Responsibility not applicable. This is an analyst role-fit judgment based on the cited role and issuer-reported experience; it does not assign personal responsibility for company outcomes.
Relevance: His tenure as permanent CFO/CoSec began shortly before the FY2026 audited report; the report discloses material asset impairments and going-concern uncertainty, making financing and reporting controls central to his new remit.
Company: Executive Management (Richard Clarke section, lines 100–106); FY2026 Audited Annual Report (Directors’ report and corporate directory, p. 5)
Evidence gaps
- Issuer reports prior employers and qualifications but does not publish exact prior titles/dates or degree award dates. The reviewed public record does not establish whether the final $3.5m ASIC penalty instalment due 30 June 2026 was paid by the cutoff.