{"id":123781,"date":"2021-05-05T05:48:49","date_gmt":"2021-05-05T05:48:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/?p=123781"},"modified":"2021-05-05T05:48:49","modified_gmt":"2021-05-05T05:48:49","slug":"australian-regulator-accuses-westpac-of-insider-trading-in-12-billion-grid-sale","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/markets\/australian-regulator-accuses-westpac-of-insider-trading-in-12-billion-grid-sale\/","title":{"rendered":"Australian regulator accuses Westpac of insider trading in $12 billion grid sale"},"content":{"rendered":"
SYDNEY (Reuters) – Australia\u2019s corporate watchdog accused Westpac Banking Corp of insider trading while financing a A$16 billion ($12 billion) energy grid privatisation in 2016, the latest in a series of regulatory problems for the country\u2019s No. 2 lender.<\/p> The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) said Westpac knew it had won the contract to help two pension funds buy Ausgrid, a state-owned power supplier to millions of people around Sydney, for two hours while it bought A$12 billion of derivative products to support the deal.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Ausgrid information was not generally available and it was information which, if generally available, a reasonable person would expect to have a material effect on the price or value of the traded products,\u201d ASIC said in a civil lawsuit filed on Wednesday.<\/p>\n The lawsuit casts a fresh cloud over Westpac one day after it posted a tripling of first-half profit largely due to penalties it paid in the prior period to settle an unrelated regulator lawsuit accusing it of enabling millions of offshore payments, including to purveyors of child exploitation material.<\/p>\n It also underscores the increased determination of Australia\u2019s financial regulators to take on big cases after they were accused in a 2018 public inquiry of being too cosy with the sector.<\/p>\n \u201cWith everything Westpac\u2019s been through in the last few years, and they\u2019ve increased regulatory compliance spend enormously, there\u2019s a lower probability that they\u2019re going to occur in the future,\u201d said Morningstar banking analyst Nathan Zaia.<\/p>\n \u201cIf ASIC wins the case they\u2019ll face a penalty. How large that will be will be anyone\u2019s guess.\u201d<\/p>\n Seven Westpac employees and former employees were named in the ASIC lawsuit but do not face prison time since it is a civil case only.<\/p>\n A Westpac spokesman declined to comment beyond a company statement which said the bank was considering its position and took the allegations \u201cvery seriously\u201d.<\/p>\n Westpac shares initially traded higher on Wednesday as analysts upgraded their forecasts following its result the previous day, but the stock gave up most of its gains to be flat by mid-afternoon, just behind the broader market.<\/p>\n The two pension funds which Westpac helped buy Ausgrid for a total A$16 billion, AustralianSuper and IFM, declined to comment.<\/p>\n A representative of New South Wales state premier Gladys Berejiklian, who was state treasurer at the time of the privatisation deal in 2016, also declined to comment.<\/p>\n In a previous ASIC action, a court ordered Westpac to pay A$3.3 million in 2018 for its involvement in fraudulent setting of interbank lending rates in 2010.<\/p>\n ($1 = 1.2928 Australian dollars)<\/p>\n