Oswyn de Silva, a former Macquarie Bank portfolio manager, has been restrained from leaving Australia following a move by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) in the NSW Supreme Court.

The regulator announced this week that it had obtained consent orders from the court that restrain De Silva from leaving or attempting to leave Australia. De Silva is being investigated for trading he is alleged to have engaged in between 2006 and 2007.

ASIC said that on 1 March this year de Silva, who is a resident of the United Kingdom, had attempted to leave Australia from Perth but was stopped by the Australian Federal Police.

ASIC said that on Monday (8 March) de Silva had pleaded guilty to a charge of being in contempt of the court's ex parte orders. His sentence hearing has been listed for next week, during which time the restraint orders will remain in place.

De Silva is a former joint head of Global Property Securities at Macquarie.