SECURITIES COMMISSIONS – AUSTRALIA

AWU sools watchdog on to Palmer Nickel

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Sarah Elks, Jared Owens, Rosie Lewis
The Australian – Page: 6 : 20-Jan-16

The Australian Securities & Investments Commission has been asked to investigate Queensland Nickel for potential breaches of the Corporations Act. Australian Workers’ Union state secretary Ben Swan has raised concern about the company’s donations to the political party of Clive Palmer, who is Queensland Nickel’s only shareholder. Swan also says Palmer may have been a "shadow director", despite resigning as a Queensland Nickel director in early 2015.

CORPORATES
QUEENSLAND NICKEL PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN WORKERS’ UNION-FEDERATION OF INDUSTRIAL, MANUFACTURING AND ENGINEERING EMPLOYEES, AUSTRALIAN SECURITIES AND INVESTMENTS COMMISSION, AURIZON HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX AZJ, QUEENSLAND. DEPT OF THE PREMIER AND CABINET, NATIONAL TEXTILES LIMITED, ONE.TEL LIMITED, UNIVERSITY OF SYDNEY, PALMER UNITED PARTY

ASIC puts heat on unlawful spruikers

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Duncan Hughes
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 33 : 7-Dec-15

The Australian Securities & Investments Commission will continue to target individuals and companies that promote the use of self-managed superannuation funds to invest in the property market. The Australian Taxation Office estimates that SMSFs account for about 33 per cent of the $A1.7bn that is held by super funds. Meanwhile, the value of limited-recourse loans taken out by SMSFs has blown out from around $A755m to $A15bn in the last five years.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN SECURITIES AND INVESTMENTS COMMISSION, AUSTRALIAN TAXATION OFFICE, PARK TRENT PROPERTIES GROUP PTY LTD, SUPREME COURT OF NEW SOUTH WALES, OMNIWEALTH PTY LTD, SUPERANNUATION WAREHOUSE AUSTRALIA, FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA

ASIC takes issue with NAB’s debt collection letters

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Clancy Yeates
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 17 : 27-Oct-15

Customers of National Australia Bank may have been misled by the bank. The Australian Securities & Investments Commission is concerned that the debt collection letters sent to borrowers contain references to Fairhalsen Collections and Brunswick Collections Services. Borrowers could be under the impression that they had received a warning from independent debt collectors, when in fact these two entities are part of the bank.

CORPORATES
NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, FAIRHALSEN COLLECTIONS, BRUNSWICK COLLECTIONS SERVICES, AUSTRALIAN SECURITIES AND INVESTMENTS COMMISSION

Ex-AWB head Flugge finally before court

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Patrick Durkin
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 12-Oct-15

The Supreme Court of Victoria will begin hearing the case against former AWB chairman Trevor Flugge on 12 October 2015. The civil charges of breaching his duties as a director relate to the payment of $US225m in kickbacks to the regime of former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein between 1999 and 2004. The Australian Securities & Investments Commission launched civil proceedings against Flugge and other AWB executives after abandoning criminal action.

CORPORATES
AWB LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN SECURITIES AND INVESTMENTS COMMISSION, AUSTRALIA. INQUIRY INTO CERTAIN AUSTRALIAN COMPANIES IN RELATION TO THE UN OIL-FOR-FOOD PROGRAMME, SUPREME COURT OF NEW SOUTH WALES

More evidence needed to charge banks

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Clancy Yeates
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 17 : 15-Sep-15

The Australian Securities & Investments Commission has found no evidence of misconduct by banks that would warrant legal action. The corporate regulator wrote in a submission to an inquiry into the banks’ business customer defaults that it had received 61 complaints about bank behaviour in commercial finance since mid-2010. These complaints constituted less than one per cent of the total complaints received about credit.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN SECURITIES AND INVESTMENTS COMMISSION, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, BANK OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA LIMITED, HBOS AUSTRALIA LIMITED, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA

Gyngell cleared of insider trading claims

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Darren Davidson
The Australian – Page: 25 : 17-Aug-15

The Australian Securities & Investments Commission (ASIC) has decided not to take further action against Nine Network CEO David Gyngell. ASIC officers examined a large number of email and text message records but found no evidence supporting insider trading allegations. The investigation was triggered by the sale of 700,000 Nine shares by Gyngell on 20 May 2015

CORPORATES
NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, AUSTRALIAN SECURITIES AND INVESTMENTS COMMISSION, SEVEN GROUP HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX SVW, CRICKET AUSTRALIA

ASIC set for full-scale review

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Sarah Thompson, Jonathan Shapiro, James Eyers
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 6 : 24-Jul-15

The Federal Government will complete a "capability review" of the Australian Securities & Investments Commission (ASIC) by the end of 2015. The review will be carried out by an expert panel comprising Karen Chester, Mark Gray and lawyer David Galbally. The financial system inquiry’s recommendations included carrying out regular capability reviews of the nation’s key regulatory agencies. The Government provides ASIC with about $A300m in funding each year.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN SECURITIES AND INVESTMENTS COMMISSION, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, AUSTRALIA. PRODUCTIVITY COMMISSION, QUEENSLAND. TREASURY

ASIC seeks lifetime ban for company director

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Sarah Danckert
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 20 : 29-May-15

The Australian Securities & Investments Commission (ASIC) believes that Bill Lewski’s 15-year ban on serving as a company director is insufficient. It wants the founder of Prime Trust to be permanently banned from holding such positions, while it has argued in the Full Federal Court that a $A230,000 fine for breaching his duties as a director is also inadequate. ASIC is seeking higher fines for several other Prime directors.

CORPORATES
PRIME RETIREMENT AND AGED CARE PROPERTY TRUST, AUSTRALIAN SECURITIES AND INVESTMENTS COMMISSION, FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA, PLACES VICTORIA

Pre-emptive $A spike attracts ASIC interest

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Vesna Poljak
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 26 : 8-Apr-15

The Australian Securities & Investments Commission will investigate further unusual currency trading activity on 7 April 2015. The Australian dollar again rose suddenly shortly before the Reserve Bank revealed that it had left the cash rate on hold. The corporate regulator is looking into similar trading activity in the previous two months. The dollar was buying $US0.7699 late in trading, and Richard Yetsenga of the ANZ Bank expects it to remain at around this level in the near-term

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN SECURITIES AND INVESTMENTS COMMISSION, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, UNITED STATES. FEDERAL RESERVE BOARD, RESERVE BANK OF INDIA, EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA

Spike in $A seconds before rates call

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Sally Rose, Jonathan Shapiro, Gareth Hutchens
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 10 : 5-Mar-15

Concerns about insider trading in the foreign exchange market has intensified after the Australian dollar rose by 0.5 per cent less than a minute before the Reserve Bank announced that the cash rate would remain on hold in March 2015. The currency had fallen by 0.8 per cent only seconds before the previous rate announcement in February. Currency experts such as the Commonwealth Bank’s Richard Grace support the Australian Securities & Investments Commission’s decision to investigate the irregular trading activity

CORPORATES
RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, AUSTRALIAN SECURITIES AND INVESTMENTS COMMISSION, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, BLOOMBERG LP, THOMSON REUTERS PLC