The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has accepted an enforceable undertaking (EU) from Bell Potter Securities and one of its employees for misuse of confidential client information.
The corporate regulator has slapped an EU on Sydney institutional stockbroker, Angus Aitken, after it was concerned about the way Aitken revealed information about an institutional client’s possible selling intentions in securities of Ten Network Holdings.
Investigations found that Aitken sent an email to Regal Funds Management director and chief investment officer, Philip King, about his client’s possible selling intentions without his client’s knowledge or consent.
Aitken should have known that the information passed on to King was confidential client information.
ASIC has also accepted an EU from King and Regal after King short-sold around four million TEN shares at $0.28 a share after receiving an e-mail from Aitken, resulting in an approximate gross profit of $80,000.
ASIC believed King should have known the contents of the email was confidential and against the interest of Aitken’s client.
Under the EUs, Aitken and King will make a voluntary contribution of $80,000 each to Financial Literacy Australia to promote financial literacy in Australia.
They will also have to undertake various training and compliance measures, including the recording of telephone calls made to and from Aitken’s business phone and conducting reviews of client trades carried out by him.
King and Regal have agreed to apply training and compliance measures, including the appointment of an independent compliance expert to review Regal’s policies and procedures and to review trades carried out by King and other Regal staff.
