Client adviser convicted
An investigation by the securities regulator has led to the conviction of a former client adviser on a charge of dishonest conduct for using his position as an employee of Macquarie Bank with the intention of gaining financial advantage for another person.
Trevor Lam of Hunters Hill, New South Wales, pled guilty after the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) found that while employed as a private client adviser with Macquarie between September 2005 and January 2006 he arranged for the unauthorised transfer of Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) traded call option contracts from his girlfriend’s account at Macquarie to another client’s superannuation fund account. The call option contracts had unrealised losses in excess of $210,000.
The investigation was instigated after Macquarie referred the matter to ASIC. Macquarie subsequently compensated the affected client for any losses and cooperated fully with the investigation.
In December 2006 ASIC banned Lam from providing financial services for a period of five years.
He is due to be sentenced on September 14, 2007, in the District Court in Sydney.
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