The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has banned a broker, Richard John Macphillamy, from providing financial services for 18 months.
Macphillamy was found responsible for spreading false and misleading information about Macquarie Group and the Macquarie Cash Management Trust (CMT) while a representative of Linwar Securities.
Macphillamy wrote and sent e-mails to 32 overseas and domestic traders in September last year, saying that a run on Macquarie’s CMT had affected Macquarie’s ability to meet withdrawals, and the news could halve Macquarie’s share price overnight.
ASIC found that Macphillamy’s behaviour was rash, ill judged and inappropriate given the market volatility at the time. However, there was no evidence of manipulative or dishonest behaviour on Macphillamy’s part.
ASIC has signalled that it will crack down on scams, or ‘rumourtrage’ that try take advantage of the turmoil of the global financial crisis by spreading false rumours about companies.
The Australian Consumer and Competitor Commission has seen a 60 per cent increase in the number of complaints about scams over the last 12 months.
