Former adviser charged with dishonest conduct

Mark Kawecki of Frankston Victoria has been charged with five counts of dishonest conduct by ASIC for allegedly engaging in dishonest conduct between January 2015 and December 2016.

In June 2018 ASIC banned Mr Kawecki from providing financial services for a period of seven years following its investigation into the conduct.

The ASIC investigation alleged that when applying for shares in companies that were undertaking IPOs Mr Kawecki submitted false or misleading information in the applications.

This information related to the beneficial holder of the shares and information about the applicant’s address with ASIC alleging that it interfered with the minimum spread requirement.

Each company must meet a minimum spread requirement before shares can be quoted or traded on the ASX and by utilising false names or address, ASIC alleges that Mr Kawecki tried to satisfy the minimum spread through artificial means.

"ASIC considers attempts to satisfy the minimum spread requirement through artificial means as serious misconduct which interferes with the integrity of our markets," said ASIC commissioner Cathie Armour.

Each offence carrying a maximum penalty of 10 years’ imprisonment and/or a fine of up to 4,500 penalty units.

Eliot Hastie

Eliot Hastie is a journalist at Momentum Media, writing primarily for its wealth and financial services platforms. 

Eliot joined the team in 2018 having previously written on Real Estate Business with Momentum Media as well.

Eliot graduated from the University of Westminster, UK with a Bachelor of Arts (Journalism).

You can email him on: [email protected]