Former investment analyst, Michael Ming Jinn Ho, has been sentenced in the Sydney Downing Centre District Court to three years imprisonment for insider trading in Bing Un Limited shares but the Australian Securities and Investments Commission reinforced that his cooperation helped his case.
According to the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), he pleaded guilty to five counts of insider trading and one count of communicating information in respect of Big Un shares and options between 2016 and 2018.
The regulator found that Ho had invested approximately $1.6 million in Big Un securities over this period while he was in possession of inside information communicated to him by Bing Un’s chief executive, Richard Evertz.
ASIC said that Ho had co-operated in the investigation and decided to participate in voluntary interviews and provide documents. He also made a formal statement admitting to the offences.
The judge quantified the discount applied to Ho’s sentence of 50% in recognition of his co-operation and early guilty plea.
“ASIC will take strong action against market misconduct in order to ensure Australia’s financial markets remain robust, fair and efficient,” ASIC’s deputy chair Daniel Crennan QC said.
“Significant discounts may apply where individuals co-operate with ASIC.
“ASIC will assess the level of co-operation it receives, and where appropriate, provide information about the nature, extent and timeliness of that co-operation to the court.”
