15 June, AtoZForex.com Lagos - The ever watchful eyes of the Australian securities and exchange commission has again caught up with some wrong doing. As ASIC convicts Forex insider trading, in an ongoing case. Back in December, 2014, Daniel Joffe, of Vaucluse, and Nathan Stromer, of Bondi, were both linked to an insider trading case and pleaded guilty to two counts of insider trading. Both of them are from Sydney.
Insider trading on takeover bids
The Australian financial watchdog announced today that these men have been convicted for their wrong doing, one of which is a former analyst with ratings agency, Moody’s. Mr Joffe, the Moody’s analyst was discovered to have shared confidential information with Mr. Stromer during the course of his duties at Moody’s. In this case, Mr. Joffe learned that two companies were going to be, or likely to be, subject to takeover bids, which he then informed Mr Stromer about. Mr. Stromer used this information to trade buy and sell orders in shares and contracts for difference (CFDs) in the companies that were about to be, or likely to be, subject to takeover bids.
As ASIC convicts Forex insider trading, the final verdict was Mr Joffe sentenced to 27 months imprisonment, while Mr Stromer was sentenced to 24 months imprisonment. Both sentences are subject to suspension on a bail of a $1,000 bond and to be of good behaviour for 2 years. Mr Stromer also paid a pecuniary penalty order totaling $229,349.87.
ASIC's growing intolerance
In sentencing, Justice RA Hulme emphasized that Mr Joffe and Mr Stromer were subject to the former lesser maximum penalty. The case shows ASIC’s growing intolerance for such acts, in 2010, the maximum penalty for insider trading was doubled from five to 10 years imprisonment. ASIC Commissioner Cathie Armour said:
‘ASIC is committed to pursuing cases of insider trading and has the systems to effectively detect, analyse and investigate any form of misconduct that seeks to undermine confidence in our markets.’
Aside the ASIC convicts Forex insider trading, a few months back two persons, an employee of The National Australia Bank as well as a staff of the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) were sentenced to a long jail terms. Investigation by the AFP and ASIC showed that an employee of the National Australian Bank was receiving sensitive information from an employee of the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). These information was then utilised to enter into the foreign exchange derivative positions, resulting in massive profits from favourable movements in the market prices.
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