ASIC has commenced civil penalty proceedings against State One Stockbroking Ltd in the Federal Court of Australia in Perth for failing to comply with two ASIC Market Integrity Rules (ASX Market) 2010 (MIRs), following State One’s failure to comply with an infringement notice given to it by the Markets Disciplinary Panel (MDP).
ASIC alleges that State One:
- made Bids on behalf of a client on 1 and 2 March 2011 in circumstances in which it ought reasonably have suspected that the client placed the relevant orders with the intention of creating a false or misleading appearance with respect to the market for, or price of, a stock; and
- failed, between 10 February and 9 May 2011, to provide clear guidance to its employees responsible for reviewing post-trade alerts on what to do in the event of receiving post-trade alerts.
ASIC is seeking:
- declarations that State One contravened subsection 798H(1) of the Corporations Act;
- orders that State One pay pecuniary penalties to the Commonwealth; and
- to recover its legal costs should it be successful in the proceedings.
The matter has been set down for a Case Management Conference on 1 December 2016.