Ban on former Citigroup Wealth Advisers broker upheld
The five-year ban of a former Citigroup Wealth Advisers broker has been upheld following an unsuccessful appeal to the Federal Court in Perth.
Roberto Catena was banned by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) from providing financial services for five years on 4 February 2009 and sought a review from the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT). The ATT upheld the ban effective from 7 May 2010.
Catena was employed as a broker with Citigroup Wealth Advisers in Perth from May 2002 to March 2007, and communicated inside information to six clients regarding the possible takeover of Vision Systems Limited (VSL), a publicly listed company on the Australian Securities Exchange. He also advised these clients to acquire VSL shares between 19 July and 9 August 2006.
This ban is one of a series of bans involving insider information regarding VSL.
Another Perth broker, Colin Edward Hebbard, who worked for Citi Smith Barney (Citigroup) until March 2007, was banned from providing financial services for five years in February 2009. In January 2010, ASIC banned Melbourne broker Mark Richard McKenzie of Citigroup Wealth Advisers from providing financial services for three years.
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