ASIC ban of AFSL holder reduced by tribunal

ASIC banned Mark Menzies, sole director and officer of Menzies Securities, from providing financial services for a period of four years, expiring on 28 January 2022.

The corporate regulator found that Mr Menzies had engaged in manipulation of the price of MINI warrants issued by Credit Suisse, commonly called ‘MINIs’, a derivative product traded on the ASX, through engaging in pre-arranged trades for the sole or dominant purpose of transferring a profit or loss from previous transactions.

However, an AAT decision determined that the ban be varied to expire earlier on 31 December 2020.

According to ASIC, the AAT found that Mr Menzies had contravened s.1041A of the Corporations Act 2001 and noted that ‘for the holder of an Australian Financial Services licence to be involved in a breach of s.1041A of the Act, conduct which involved market manipulation, is very serious, and such as to merit a banning order in both the public interest and in order to deter others from embarking upon such activity, and also to encourage confidence in the market and its operators.’

It also found that Mr Menzies had failed in his duty to ensure that Menzies Securities retained all necessary records of client instructions in accordance with the Corporations Regulations 2001.

On 22 February 2018, ASIC cancelled the AFSL of Menzies Securities at the request of Mr Menzies.

In December 2017, the AAT upheld a ban on former adviser Tony Davidof after he was found manipulating the price of MINI warrants.

Adrian Flores

Adrian Flores is a deputy editor at Momentum Media, focusing mainly on banking, wealth management and financial services. He has also written for Public Accountant, Accountants Daily and The CEO Magazine.

You can contact him on [email protected].