The corporate regulator says recent court rulings have lifted the standard of care that company directors are expected to provide investors. Australian Securities and Investment Commission chairman Greg Medcraft says the decisions against retail property manager Centro Property Group and industrial building products manufacturer James Hardie provided more certainty to Australians on the responsibilities of company directors. "The Federal Court in Centro set a clear standard of care and diligence for directors when approving financial reports," Mr Medcraft said in ASIC's annual 2011/12 report released on Wednesday. "The decision in James Hardie reinforced the proposition that directors have responsibility for the content of market announcements they approve." Mr Medcraft said ASIC had secured 14 criminal convictions and 10 imprisonment for market manipulation, false or misleading statements, insider trading and other breaches of the Corporations Act 2001.