ASIC

ANZ has confirmed that senior executives could face consequences in an investigation led by Herbert Smith Freehills and Allens regarding concerns that it manipulated government bond sales last year. 

ASIC has brought civil penalty proceedings against Chinese government-owned agri-business COFCO, alleging it manipulated the market for Eastern Australian wheat futures market contracts in 2022. 

Four people have been charged with conspiracy to commit market rigging and false trading after an ASIC investigation into an alleged scheme organised on social media app Telegram to pump shares in Australian stocks and dump them at inflated prices. 

A judge has ordered credit card giant American Express to pay $8 million in ASIC’s first-ever case over design and distribution obligations, but has criticised the recently enacted provisions as being “poorly drafted”. 

Noumi has agreed to pay a $5 million penalty for violating its continuous disclosure obligations in a case brought by the corporate regulator, but the applicant in a shareholder class action against the food company says the sum should be reserved to compensate group members. 

The judge who presided over ASIC’s successful case against payday lender Sunshine Loans has recused himself from deciding on penalty in the matter, saying a new court protocol might be needed for when a judge makes an adverse credit finding during the liability phase of a case.

Clive Palmer has filed an application for default judgment against the former chair of the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, James Shipton, in his proceedings alleging he acted in bad faith and beyond his power in the regulator’s pursuit of claims.

Former BitConnect national promoter John Louis Bigatton has been convicted for his role in marketing the online cryptocurrency platform, a global Ponzi scheme that reached a market capitalisation of $5 billion before its collapse.

In a win for ASIC, the Federal Court has found that non-bank lender Firstmac Limited breached the design and distribution obligations, introduced in 2021, by marketing a managed investment scheme that could be unsuitable for customers’ financial needs. 

The corporate regulator has secrued orders barring fintech giant PayPal from enforcing a term in its contracts with small businesses that set a two-month deadline for complaints about excess fees.