ASIC warns on rise in unsolicited share offers
The number of unsolicited offers to investors to buy shares has increased by more than 50 per cent over the past 12 months, according to the ASIC Commissioner Berna Collier.
ASIC received complaints relating to unsolicited offers from more than 10 different entities during the year, which had “contacted hundreds, often thousands, of shareholders by mass mail-out”, she said. Shareholders in AXA Pacific Holdings and Tattersalls are among the most recent recipients of these offers.
Warning that unsolicited offers are “on the rise”, Collier said investors risk losing money selling their shares for less than they could get on the open market.”
It is not illegal to make an unsolicited offer to buy someone’s shares, she said, although it is to “mislead or deceive shareholders into accepting an offer”.
“Furthermore, the offer must comply with strict legal requirements, including the prohibition against misleading or deceptive or unconscionable conduct.”
Inexperienced or elderly shareholders, or those under immediate financial pressure, are “most at risk of signing away their shares”, Collier said.
ASIC is currently monitoring various current offers to ensure they comply with the law, she said, but is also intent on warning the public about how to protect themselves.
The regulator has released a list of seven safety checks for investors, including obtaining financial advice on the merits of the offer.
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