Latest news with #MacquarieSecurities
Finextra
14-05-2025
- Business
- Finextra
Asic sues Macquarie for repeated misconduct
ASIC is suing Macquarie Securities (Australia) Limited (MSAL) alleging it engaged in misleading conduct by misreporting millions of short sales to the market operator for over 14 years. 0 In proceedings filed in the NSW Supreme Court, ASIC alleges that between 11 December 2009 and 14 February 2024, MSAL failed to correctly report the volume of short sales by at least 73 million. ASIC estimates that this could be between 298 million and 1.5 billion short sales. ASIC, in its first short sale reporting case, alleges the misleading conduct was due to multiple systems-related issues, many of which remained undetected for over a decade. Accurate short sale reporting matters. Obligations to report short sales were introduced in 2009, following the Global Financial Crisis. Short sale data is used to inform investors, governments, regulators and financial market participants about market sentiment and potential risks. It also assists in detecting market misconduct and supports market integrity. ASIC Chair Joe Longo said, 'This action is timely given significant recent global market volatility. Accurate and reliable data underpins the integrity of, and confidence in, Australia's financial markets. Investors expect reliable information to analyse market movements and inform their investment decisions. 'We allege Macquarie's failures may have led to the financial services industry relying on misleading and false information for over 14 years. 'MSAL's repeated systemic failure to detect and resolve these issues indicated serious neglect of its systems and disregard for operational controls and technological governance.' Today's announcement marks the fourth regulatory action ASIC has taken against Macquarie Group in just over 12 months. 'Our actions reflect the ongoing and deep concerns we have with Macquarie Group and its weak remediation of long-standing issues, which led us to impose additional conditions on Macquarie Bank's Australian Financial Services licence only last week,' Mr Longo said. Market Participants must ensure that their systems, controls and governance arrangements are robust and fit for purpose to comply with their regulatory obligations. In 2020, MSAL undertook a review of its short sale reporting process following weaknesses identified in 2015 and 2019. It is clear this review failed to identify and resolve the issues in these proceedings. ASIC also alleges MSAL failed to correctly report Regulatory Data for 633,680 orders submitted to the Market Operator between 16 November 2022 and 21 March 2023. In addition to penalties, ASIC is seeking independent review and assurance of MSAL's regulatory reporting (including short sale reporting) systems, controls and supervisory procedures to ensure compliance with the law. Background MSAL is an Australian Financial Services Licensee and a significant market participant of both the ASX and Cboe (formerly Chi-X) markets. It is authorised under its licence to deal in securities on behalf of retail and wholesale clients. MSAL is a subsidiary of Macquarie Group Limited (ASX: MQG), which recorded a net profit of $3,715m in its FY25 annual report. ASIC alleges that MSAL contravened: s798H(1) of the Corporations Act 2001 (Corporations Act), by virtue of alleged contraventions of rules 2.1.3 (Supervisory Procedures), 5.5.2 (Organisational and Technical Resources) and 7.4.2 (Regulatory Data) of the ASIC Market Integrity Rules (Securities Markets) 2017 s912A(1)(h) of the Corporations Act: Failure to have adequate risk management systems s1308(5) of the Corporations Act: Submission of materially false or misleading documents to the market operator, and s12DF of the ASIC Act 2001: Engaging in conduct liable to mislead the public in relation to financial services. ASIC alleges that MSAL's misreporting impacted data relating to at least 321 unique securities. ASIC also alleges that for each impacted security, MSAL inflated or deflated the published volume of short sales by an average of approximately 12 per cent, with several instances of misreporting impacting the published short sale volume by 50 per cent or more. AFS Licensees are required to report certain details about short sales to market operators. Market operators rely on licensees to provide them with accurate short sale information to publish daily aggregated short sale reports to the market, which record the volume of short sales executed per financial product each trading day. Published short sale reports may be used for various purposes by investors and the financial services industry, including company analysis, informing investment decisions, identifying risks and explaining share price movements. The short sale reports published by ASX and Cboe are accessible through the following links: ASX Published Short Sale Reports Cboe Published Short Sale Reports The short sale reporting requirements were introduced with the objective of enhancing public transparency for short selling activity in Australia. These provisions followed unprecedented volatility in financial markets during the Global Financial Crisis. The duration of MSAL's reporting issues means that it may have failed to comply with these requirements for most if not all of the time that these requirements have been in force. Further information on short selling, reporting and disclosure obligations can be found in Regulatory Guide 196 Short Selling (RG 196). Today's announcement follows other actions against Macquarie Group entities: On 7 May 2025, ASIC imposed additional AFS licence conditions on Macquarie Bank Limited following more than 10 years of compliance failures (25-068MR). In September 2024, ASIC's Markets Disciplinary Panel (MDP) fined Macquarie Bank Limited a record $4.995 million for failing to prevent suspicious orders being placed on the electricity futures market (24-211MR). In April 2024, the Federal Court ordered Macquarie Bank Limited to pay a penalty of $10 million for failing to have effective controls to prevent and detect unauthorised fee transactions conducted by third parties, such as financial advisers, on customer cash management accounts using Macquarie's bulk transacting facility (24-080 MR). In June 2019, ASIC's MDP fined MSAL $300,000 for failing to correctly report Regulatory Data for approximately 42 million orders or trade reports to the relevant market operators (19-125MR). ASIC's MDP has issued a total of seven infringement notices to Macquarie Group entities for breaches of the Market Integrity Rules, amounting to $6.331 million in fines.
The Advertiser
14-05-2025
- Business
- The Advertiser
'Hubris': financial giant in hot water over breaches
Success has come at a cost for one of Australia's financial heavyweights, which is firmly in the sights of the corporate watchdog over "hubris and complacency". The Australian Securities and Investments Commission is taking investment banking behemoth Macquarie to court in the latest of a string of alleged compliance failures. Known as the "millionaires' factory", Macquarie has become one of Australia's most successful financial players, reporting a $3.7 billion profit for 2024/2025. This time, ASIC alleges Macquarie Securities - Macquarie Group's brokering division - failed to report up to 1.5 billion short sales over a 14-year period, putting at risk the nation's financial stability. The commission is seeking potentially hundreds of millions of dollars in penalties from Macquarie Securities in the NSW Supreme Court as well as an independent review of its reporting systems to ensure it complies with the law. The extent of the compliance action is "unprecedented", says ASIC chair Joe Longo. His patience is running out. "One of the reasons we've taken these proceedings is because the previous assurances over this topic haven't been followed through," Mr Longo told AAP. "What I would suggest has happened, so far as their risk management and compliance culture is concerned, is a hubris has crept in." He believes Macquarie's strong market position has bred complacency. "As a group, they've simply not invested in a sustainable way in their systems and processes and technology to ensure the standards of compliance they should be meeting," he said. Macquarie Securities' reporting systems were so inadequate it was difficult for ASIC to determine how many short sales it failed to report between December 2009 and February 2024. Its best estimate was between 298 million and 1.5 billion transactions. Short sales refer to selling stock or other securities an entity does not own in the hope of buying at a lower price later on - essentially a bet the product will decline in value. The method was used by traders to bet against the financial instruments causing the housing bubble that sparked the 2008 global financial crisis, as popularised in the Hollywood film The Big Short. Reports of short selling can warn regulators of potential market risks before they occur. Macquarie Securities' failure to do so made it harder for ASIC to monitor market stability and had the potential to mislead investors, Mr Longo said. It's not the first time Macquarie Securities has been put on notice for misreporting short selling and marks the fourth time ASIC has taken regulatory action against Macquarie Group in just over 12 months. Earlier in May, ASIC imposed licence conditions on Macquarie Bank for misreporting hundreds of thousands of over-the-counter derivatives trades as well as failing to prevent and detect suspicious trading activity in its futures dealing business. ASIC has increased its supervision of Macquarie over the past year and Mr Longo says it's up to the board and senior management - including former Reserve Bank governor Glenn Stevens and CEO Shemara Wikramanayake - to seriously invest in its technology processes. "Our confidence has been undermined through all these failures," Mr Longo said. Macquarie said the group's brokering division first identified issues with its reporting of short sales and self-reported this to ASIC in late 2022. "The reporting issues identified in the proceedings have been remediated with additional controls implemented," Macquarie said in a statement. "Macquarie takes its compliance obligations very seriously and continues to invest in programs to further improve systems and controls across the group." Success has come at a cost for one of Australia's financial heavyweights, which is firmly in the sights of the corporate watchdog over "hubris and complacency". The Australian Securities and Investments Commission is taking investment banking behemoth Macquarie to court in the latest of a string of alleged compliance failures. Known as the "millionaires' factory", Macquarie has become one of Australia's most successful financial players, reporting a $3.7 billion profit for 2024/2025. This time, ASIC alleges Macquarie Securities - Macquarie Group's brokering division - failed to report up to 1.5 billion short sales over a 14-year period, putting at risk the nation's financial stability. The commission is seeking potentially hundreds of millions of dollars in penalties from Macquarie Securities in the NSW Supreme Court as well as an independent review of its reporting systems to ensure it complies with the law. The extent of the compliance action is "unprecedented", says ASIC chair Joe Longo. His patience is running out. "One of the reasons we've taken these proceedings is because the previous assurances over this topic haven't been followed through," Mr Longo told AAP. "What I would suggest has happened, so far as their risk management and compliance culture is concerned, is a hubris has crept in." He believes Macquarie's strong market position has bred complacency. "As a group, they've simply not invested in a sustainable way in their systems and processes and technology to ensure the standards of compliance they should be meeting," he said. Macquarie Securities' reporting systems were so inadequate it was difficult for ASIC to determine how many short sales it failed to report between December 2009 and February 2024. Its best estimate was between 298 million and 1.5 billion transactions. Short sales refer to selling stock or other securities an entity does not own in the hope of buying at a lower price later on - essentially a bet the product will decline in value. The method was used by traders to bet against the financial instruments causing the housing bubble that sparked the 2008 global financial crisis, as popularised in the Hollywood film The Big Short. Reports of short selling can warn regulators of potential market risks before they occur. Macquarie Securities' failure to do so made it harder for ASIC to monitor market stability and had the potential to mislead investors, Mr Longo said. It's not the first time Macquarie Securities has been put on notice for misreporting short selling and marks the fourth time ASIC has taken regulatory action against Macquarie Group in just over 12 months. Earlier in May, ASIC imposed licence conditions on Macquarie Bank for misreporting hundreds of thousands of over-the-counter derivatives trades as well as failing to prevent and detect suspicious trading activity in its futures dealing business. ASIC has increased its supervision of Macquarie over the past year and Mr Longo says it's up to the board and senior management - including former Reserve Bank governor Glenn Stevens and CEO Shemara Wikramanayake - to seriously invest in its technology processes. "Our confidence has been undermined through all these failures," Mr Longo said. Macquarie said the group's brokering division first identified issues with its reporting of short sales and self-reported this to ASIC in late 2022. "The reporting issues identified in the proceedings have been remediated with additional controls implemented," Macquarie said in a statement. "Macquarie takes its compliance obligations very seriously and continues to invest in programs to further improve systems and controls across the group." Success has come at a cost for one of Australia's financial heavyweights, which is firmly in the sights of the corporate watchdog over "hubris and complacency". The Australian Securities and Investments Commission is taking investment banking behemoth Macquarie to court in the latest of a string of alleged compliance failures. Known as the "millionaires' factory", Macquarie has become one of Australia's most successful financial players, reporting a $3.7 billion profit for 2024/2025. This time, ASIC alleges Macquarie Securities - Macquarie Group's brokering division - failed to report up to 1.5 billion short sales over a 14-year period, putting at risk the nation's financial stability. The commission is seeking potentially hundreds of millions of dollars in penalties from Macquarie Securities in the NSW Supreme Court as well as an independent review of its reporting systems to ensure it complies with the law. The extent of the compliance action is "unprecedented", says ASIC chair Joe Longo. His patience is running out. "One of the reasons we've taken these proceedings is because the previous assurances over this topic haven't been followed through," Mr Longo told AAP. "What I would suggest has happened, so far as their risk management and compliance culture is concerned, is a hubris has crept in." He believes Macquarie's strong market position has bred complacency. "As a group, they've simply not invested in a sustainable way in their systems and processes and technology to ensure the standards of compliance they should be meeting," he said. Macquarie Securities' reporting systems were so inadequate it was difficult for ASIC to determine how many short sales it failed to report between December 2009 and February 2024. Its best estimate was between 298 million and 1.5 billion transactions. Short sales refer to selling stock or other securities an entity does not own in the hope of buying at a lower price later on - essentially a bet the product will decline in value. The method was used by traders to bet against the financial instruments causing the housing bubble that sparked the 2008 global financial crisis, as popularised in the Hollywood film The Big Short. Reports of short selling can warn regulators of potential market risks before they occur. Macquarie Securities' failure to do so made it harder for ASIC to monitor market stability and had the potential to mislead investors, Mr Longo said. It's not the first time Macquarie Securities has been put on notice for misreporting short selling and marks the fourth time ASIC has taken regulatory action against Macquarie Group in just over 12 months. Earlier in May, ASIC imposed licence conditions on Macquarie Bank for misreporting hundreds of thousands of over-the-counter derivatives trades as well as failing to prevent and detect suspicious trading activity in its futures dealing business. ASIC has increased its supervision of Macquarie over the past year and Mr Longo says it's up to the board and senior management - including former Reserve Bank governor Glenn Stevens and CEO Shemara Wikramanayake - to seriously invest in its technology processes. "Our confidence has been undermined through all these failures," Mr Longo said. Macquarie said the group's brokering division first identified issues with its reporting of short sales and self-reported this to ASIC in late 2022. "The reporting issues identified in the proceedings have been remediated with additional controls implemented," Macquarie said in a statement. "Macquarie takes its compliance obligations very seriously and continues to invest in programs to further improve systems and controls across the group." Success has come at a cost for one of Australia's financial heavyweights, which is firmly in the sights of the corporate watchdog over "hubris and complacency". The Australian Securities and Investments Commission is taking investment banking behemoth Macquarie to court in the latest of a string of alleged compliance failures. Known as the "millionaires' factory", Macquarie has become one of Australia's most successful financial players, reporting a $3.7 billion profit for 2024/2025. This time, ASIC alleges Macquarie Securities - Macquarie Group's brokering division - failed to report up to 1.5 billion short sales over a 14-year period, putting at risk the nation's financial stability. The commission is seeking potentially hundreds of millions of dollars in penalties from Macquarie Securities in the NSW Supreme Court as well as an independent review of its reporting systems to ensure it complies with the law. The extent of the compliance action is "unprecedented", says ASIC chair Joe Longo. His patience is running out. "One of the reasons we've taken these proceedings is because the previous assurances over this topic haven't been followed through," Mr Longo told AAP. "What I would suggest has happened, so far as their risk management and compliance culture is concerned, is a hubris has crept in." He believes Macquarie's strong market position has bred complacency. "As a group, they've simply not invested in a sustainable way in their systems and processes and technology to ensure the standards of compliance they should be meeting," he said. Macquarie Securities' reporting systems were so inadequate it was difficult for ASIC to determine how many short sales it failed to report between December 2009 and February 2024. Its best estimate was between 298 million and 1.5 billion transactions. Short sales refer to selling stock or other securities an entity does not own in the hope of buying at a lower price later on - essentially a bet the product will decline in value. The method was used by traders to bet against the financial instruments causing the housing bubble that sparked the 2008 global financial crisis, as popularised in the Hollywood film The Big Short. Reports of short selling can warn regulators of potential market risks before they occur. Macquarie Securities' failure to do so made it harder for ASIC to monitor market stability and had the potential to mislead investors, Mr Longo said. It's not the first time Macquarie Securities has been put on notice for misreporting short selling and marks the fourth time ASIC has taken regulatory action against Macquarie Group in just over 12 months. Earlier in May, ASIC imposed licence conditions on Macquarie Bank for misreporting hundreds of thousands of over-the-counter derivatives trades as well as failing to prevent and detect suspicious trading activity in its futures dealing business. ASIC has increased its supervision of Macquarie over the past year and Mr Longo says it's up to the board and senior management - including former Reserve Bank governor Glenn Stevens and CEO Shemara Wikramanayake - to seriously invest in its technology processes. "Our confidence has been undermined through all these failures," Mr Longo said. Macquarie said the group's brokering division first identified issues with its reporting of short sales and self-reported this to ASIC in late 2022. "The reporting issues identified in the proceedings have been remediated with additional controls implemented," Macquarie said in a statement. "Macquarie takes its compliance obligations very seriously and continues to invest in programs to further improve systems and controls across the group."
The Advertiser
14-05-2025
- Business
- The Advertiser
Macquarie sued for misreporting up to 1.5 billion sales
One of Australia's biggest financial providers is in court again after allegedly failing to report up to 1.5 billion short sales, putting at risk the nation's financial stability. Corporate watchdog ASIC alleges Macquarie Securities - Macquarie Group's cash brokering division - failed to correctly report at least 73 million short sales between December 2009 and February 2024. ASIC estimates the true figure is likely to be between 298 million and 1.5 billion short sales, but the inadequacy of the brokering division's reporting systems makes it impossible to narrow down beyond such a large range. Short sales refer to selling stock or other securities that an entity does not currently own in the hope of buying at a lower price later on - essentially a bet that the product will decline in value. The method was used by traders to bet against the financial instruments that were causing the housing bubble that sparked the 2008 global financial crisis, as popularised in the Hollywood film The Big Short. Reports of short selling can be used by regulators to identify potential market risks before they occur. It assists in detecting market misconduct and supports market integrity, ASIC chair Joe Longo said. "This action is timely given significant recent global market volatility. Accurate and reliable data underpins the integrity of, and confidence in, Australia's financial markets," Mr Longo said on Wednesday. "Investors expect reliable information to analyse market movements and inform their investment decisions." The legal action in the NSW Supreme Court marks the fourth time ASIC has taken regulatory action against Macquarie Group in just over 12 months. Earlier in May, ASIC imposed licence conditions on Macquarie Bank for misreporting hundreds of thousands of over-the-counter derivatives trades as well as failing to prevent and detect suspicious trading activity in its futures dealing business. ASIC is seeking penalties from Macquarie Securities (MSAL) as well as an independent review of its reporting systems to ensure they comply with the law. Macquarie said the group's brokering division first identified issues with its reporting of short sales and self-reported this to ASIC in late 2022. "The reporting issues identified in the proceedings have been remediated with additional controls implemented," Macquarie said in a statement. "MSAL is now reviewing ASIC's claim. "Macquarie takes its compliance obligations very seriously and continues to invest in programs to further improve systems and controls across the Group." One of Australia's biggest financial providers is in court again after allegedly failing to report up to 1.5 billion short sales, putting at risk the nation's financial stability. Corporate watchdog ASIC alleges Macquarie Securities - Macquarie Group's cash brokering division - failed to correctly report at least 73 million short sales between December 2009 and February 2024. ASIC estimates the true figure is likely to be between 298 million and 1.5 billion short sales, but the inadequacy of the brokering division's reporting systems makes it impossible to narrow down beyond such a large range. Short sales refer to selling stock or other securities that an entity does not currently own in the hope of buying at a lower price later on - essentially a bet that the product will decline in value. The method was used by traders to bet against the financial instruments that were causing the housing bubble that sparked the 2008 global financial crisis, as popularised in the Hollywood film The Big Short. Reports of short selling can be used by regulators to identify potential market risks before they occur. It assists in detecting market misconduct and supports market integrity, ASIC chair Joe Longo said. "This action is timely given significant recent global market volatility. Accurate and reliable data underpins the integrity of, and confidence in, Australia's financial markets," Mr Longo said on Wednesday. "Investors expect reliable information to analyse market movements and inform their investment decisions." The legal action in the NSW Supreme Court marks the fourth time ASIC has taken regulatory action against Macquarie Group in just over 12 months. Earlier in May, ASIC imposed licence conditions on Macquarie Bank for misreporting hundreds of thousands of over-the-counter derivatives trades as well as failing to prevent and detect suspicious trading activity in its futures dealing business. ASIC is seeking penalties from Macquarie Securities (MSAL) as well as an independent review of its reporting systems to ensure they comply with the law. Macquarie said the group's brokering division first identified issues with its reporting of short sales and self-reported this to ASIC in late 2022. "The reporting issues identified in the proceedings have been remediated with additional controls implemented," Macquarie said in a statement. "MSAL is now reviewing ASIC's claim. "Macquarie takes its compliance obligations very seriously and continues to invest in programs to further improve systems and controls across the Group." One of Australia's biggest financial providers is in court again after allegedly failing to report up to 1.5 billion short sales, putting at risk the nation's financial stability. Corporate watchdog ASIC alleges Macquarie Securities - Macquarie Group's cash brokering division - failed to correctly report at least 73 million short sales between December 2009 and February 2024. ASIC estimates the true figure is likely to be between 298 million and 1.5 billion short sales, but the inadequacy of the brokering division's reporting systems makes it impossible to narrow down beyond such a large range. Short sales refer to selling stock or other securities that an entity does not currently own in the hope of buying at a lower price later on - essentially a bet that the product will decline in value. The method was used by traders to bet against the financial instruments that were causing the housing bubble that sparked the 2008 global financial crisis, as popularised in the Hollywood film The Big Short. Reports of short selling can be used by regulators to identify potential market risks before they occur. It assists in detecting market misconduct and supports market integrity, ASIC chair Joe Longo said. "This action is timely given significant recent global market volatility. Accurate and reliable data underpins the integrity of, and confidence in, Australia's financial markets," Mr Longo said on Wednesday. "Investors expect reliable information to analyse market movements and inform their investment decisions." The legal action in the NSW Supreme Court marks the fourth time ASIC has taken regulatory action against Macquarie Group in just over 12 months. Earlier in May, ASIC imposed licence conditions on Macquarie Bank for misreporting hundreds of thousands of over-the-counter derivatives trades as well as failing to prevent and detect suspicious trading activity in its futures dealing business. ASIC is seeking penalties from Macquarie Securities (MSAL) as well as an independent review of its reporting systems to ensure they comply with the law. Macquarie said the group's brokering division first identified issues with its reporting of short sales and self-reported this to ASIC in late 2022. "The reporting issues identified in the proceedings have been remediated with additional controls implemented," Macquarie said in a statement. "MSAL is now reviewing ASIC's claim. "Macquarie takes its compliance obligations very seriously and continues to invest in programs to further improve systems and controls across the Group." One of Australia's biggest financial providers is in court again after allegedly failing to report up to 1.5 billion short sales, putting at risk the nation's financial stability. Corporate watchdog ASIC alleges Macquarie Securities - Macquarie Group's cash brokering division - failed to correctly report at least 73 million short sales between December 2009 and February 2024. ASIC estimates the true figure is likely to be between 298 million and 1.5 billion short sales, but the inadequacy of the brokering division's reporting systems makes it impossible to narrow down beyond such a large range. Short sales refer to selling stock or other securities that an entity does not currently own in the hope of buying at a lower price later on - essentially a bet that the product will decline in value. The method was used by traders to bet against the financial instruments that were causing the housing bubble that sparked the 2008 global financial crisis, as popularised in the Hollywood film The Big Short. Reports of short selling can be used by regulators to identify potential market risks before they occur. It assists in detecting market misconduct and supports market integrity, ASIC chair Joe Longo said. "This action is timely given significant recent global market volatility. Accurate and reliable data underpins the integrity of, and confidence in, Australia's financial markets," Mr Longo said on Wednesday. "Investors expect reliable information to analyse market movements and inform their investment decisions." The legal action in the NSW Supreme Court marks the fourth time ASIC has taken regulatory action against Macquarie Group in just over 12 months. Earlier in May, ASIC imposed licence conditions on Macquarie Bank for misreporting hundreds of thousands of over-the-counter derivatives trades as well as failing to prevent and detect suspicious trading activity in its futures dealing business. ASIC is seeking penalties from Macquarie Securities (MSAL) as well as an independent review of its reporting systems to ensure they comply with the law. Macquarie said the group's brokering division first identified issues with its reporting of short sales and self-reported this to ASIC in late 2022. "The reporting issues identified in the proceedings have been remediated with additional controls implemented," Macquarie said in a statement. "MSAL is now reviewing ASIC's claim. "Macquarie takes its compliance obligations very seriously and continues to invest in programs to further improve systems and controls across the Group."
Perth Now
14-05-2025
- Business
- Perth Now
Macquarie sued for misreporting up to 1.5 billion sales
One of Australia's biggest financial providers is in court again after allegedly failing to report up to 1.5 billion short sales, putting at risk the nation's financial stability. Corporate watchdog ASIC alleges Macquarie Securities - Macquarie Group's cash brokering division - failed to correctly report at least 73 million short sales between December 2009 and February 2024. ASIC estimates the true figure is likely to be between 298 million and 1.5 billion short sales, but the inadequacy of the brokering division's reporting systems makes it impossible to narrow down beyond such a large range. Short sales refer to selling stock or other securities that an entity does not currently own in the hope of buying at a lower price later on - essentially a bet that the product will decline in value. The method was used by traders to bet against the financial instruments that were causing the housing bubble that sparked the 2008 global financial crisis, as popularised in the Hollywood film The Big Short. Reports of short selling can be used by regulators to identify potential market risks before they occur. It assists in detecting market misconduct and supports market integrity, ASIC chair Joe Longo said. "This action is timely given significant recent global market volatility. Accurate and reliable data underpins the integrity of, and confidence in, Australia's financial markets," Mr Longo said on Wednesday. "Investors expect reliable information to analyse market movements and inform their investment decisions." The legal action in the NSW Supreme Court marks the fourth time ASIC has taken regulatory action against Macquarie Group in just over 12 months. Earlier in May, ASIC imposed licence conditions on Macquarie Bank for misreporting hundreds of thousands of over-the-counter derivatives trades as well as failing to prevent and detect suspicious trading activity in its futures dealing business. ASIC is seeking penalties from Macquarie Securities (MSAL) as well as an independent review of its reporting systems to ensure they comply with the law. Macquarie said the group's brokering division first identified issues with its reporting of short sales and self-reported this to ASIC in late 2022. "The reporting issues identified in the proceedings have been remediated with additional controls implemented," Macquarie said in a statement. "MSAL is now reviewing ASIC's claim. "Macquarie takes its compliance obligations very seriously and continues to invest in programs to further improve systems and controls across the Group."
Bloomberg
14-05-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
Australia Regulator Sues Macquarie Over Reporting of Short Sales
Australia's markets regulator is suing Macquarie Securities (Australia) Ltd., alleging that the firm misreported millions of short sales for more than 14 years. ASIC alleges that between December 2009 and February 2024, Macquarie Securities failed to correctly report the volume of short sales by at least 73 million, according to a statement Wednesday.
