The corporate regulator, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, said it had forwarded briefs recommending criminal action ``in respect of certain individuals'' to the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions in July 2007.

The DPP had now decided not to prosecute, ASIC said.

Lawyers for the former chief executive, Peter Macdonald, revealed in civil proceedings in the NSW Supreme Court last year that he was on notice of potential criminal charges.

The NSW Special Commission of Inquiry into James Hardie's $1.5 billion underfunding of a trust to compensate people affected by asbestos diseases recommended criminal investigations but left it up to prosecutors to decide the targets.

The commissioner, David Jackson, QC, said a deliberately false statement to the Australian Stock Exchange that the trust would have sufficient money to meet all future claims could lead to criminal charges.

ASIC said the decision would have no impact on its civil case against the entire James Hardie board of 2001, which begins later this month.

In that case, against seven non-executive directors and three executives, ASIC is asking the NSW Supreme Court to ban the 10 from managing companies, and to impose fines.

James Hardie's statements to the stock exchange will be a focus of the civil case.

None of the briefs sent to the DPP last year concerned non-executive directors, ASIC said.

``Whilst there may be a concern in some sectors of the broader community about this outcome, because of the nature of asbestos and what transpired, a careful and independent review has concluded that there was insufficient basis to commence any criminal proceedings,'' ASIC said.