Sydney financier First Class Capital has admitted it acquired three million shares in former market darling Big Un but has denied liquidators’ claims that the purchase was part of a fraudulent design to inflate the share price ahead of the video start-up’s collapse.
Online broker International Capital Markets has been hit with a second class action for selling “excessively risky” derivative products known as contracts for difference to retail investors.
A director of defunct investment scheme A One Multi, which allegedly raised $25 million in funds, has been charged with nine counts of running a financial services company without a licence.
A law firm is investigating an shareholder class action against lithium battery producer Magnis Energy Technologies and auditor Hall Chadwick after its share price plummeted to four cents late last year.
A judge has reluctantly hit Westpac with a $1.8 million penalty after the bank admitted to unconscionable conduct when trading on the morning of a $16 billion deal to privatise electricity provider Ausgrid, saying it was the maximum fine allowed under the relevant law.
A former wealth manager faces action by the corporate regulator for contempt of court after he allegedly breached a court order banning him from involvement in financial services.
Two former directors of a Canberra property development group have lost their bid to bar ASIC from announcing their disqualification, with a tribunal finding this would keep financiers and creditors “in the dark” and make the market less transparent.
A former company secretary of defunct mining and exploration company Continental Coal has pleaded guilty to three criminal charges, including stealing $2.2 million and forging a bank statement.
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission has handed Queensland investment firm Penta Capital a $53,280 fine for allegedly making false statements on its website, including that it managed $6.9 billion on behalf of retail, wholesale and institutional clients.
The Australian Law Reform Commission has recommended extensive reforms to the “confusing maze” that is the Corporations Act, including the creation of a standalone financial services law.