ASIC announced that has accepted an enforceable undertaking from Avalon Pacific Capital Pty Ltd in relation to its dealing in securities of five overseas registered companies listed on the National Stock Exchange of Australia (NSX).
ASIC is concerned that Avalon Pacific ought reasonably to have suspected that the orders were placed with the intention of creating a false or misleading appearance of the price of the securities.
Avalon Pacific has undertaken to cancel its NSX market participant status and not to deal in NSX listed companies via another market participant.
ASIC Commissioner Cathie Armour said:
As gatekeepers, market participants must have systems in place to detect and prevent suspicious orders from being placed on Australian licensed financial markets. ASIC considers this is a significant outcome that will help protect investors and ensure the integrity of the market.
ASIC’s investigation into trading in the entities is continuing.