The Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) has upheld a decision by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) to ban former Tolhurst client adviser Clive Henley from providing financial services, but has reduced the ban from 10 to three years.
The Queensland broker was banned by ASIC on 10 January, 2009, after the regulator concluded there were grounds to believe he had failed to comply with financial services law.
In 2006, Henley allegedly engaged in market manipulation by trading shares in the Australian Securities Exchange-listed company Genetic Technologies Limited (GTG). ASIC was also concerned that Henley falsified order records that were required to be maintained by the Corporations Act 2001.
In a review of ASIC’s decision to ban Henley, the AAT was satisfied that he had on two days engaged in conduct that resulted in the creation of an artificial price for the securities of GTG.
The tribunal also determined that it had reason to believe Henley would not comply with financial services law in the future.
The Queensland broker is the third client adviser to be banned as part of ASIC’s investigation into the trading of the securities of GTG.
Rocco Musumeci, previously of Bell Potter Securities, and Richard Wade, previously of ABN Amro, were banned for two and five years respectively.
