Insider trading proceedings filed against Provenco Group cont...
- a possible privatisation;
- a share buy back;
- the expectation of certain commercial opportunities; and
- the quantum of proposed director and staff share purchases.
The Commission claims that any or all of this inside information would, or would
be likely to, have affected materially the price of Provenco shares if it, or they, had
been publicly available at the time of the share trading.
The Commission's actions are against:
- Jeda, Gordon (the Waimea Trust), and Bradley (the Bradley Family Trust) for trading with inside information during February and March 2003;
- Wolfenden and Provenco for tipping during the February/March 2003 trading; and
- Provenco for trading and tipping during the share buy back on 2 May 2003.
In each case the Commission seeks compensation and pecuniary penalties.
The action is being taken under section 18A of the Securities Markets Act 1988.
This enables the Commission to exercise a public issuer's right of action against an
insider (in accordance with section 18B) if it considers that it is in the public
interest to do so.
The Commission has decided that it is in the public interest to bring this action.
Fund managers pricing inquiry |
The Commission has completed its
inquiry into the pricing practices of
fund managers. The Commission
found that neither market timing nor
late trading was commonly practised
in New Zealand.
"Market timing" involves trading in
units based on a price that is out of
date. The practice of market timing
refers to a situation where short-term
investors use quick trades to exploit a
stale fund price.
"Late trading" involves buying and
selling of units after the close of
trading but using a price that was
current when the market closed.
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The
practice of late trading refers to allowing certain preferred investors to
trade after the cut-off time for
accepting buy or sell instructions.
The inquiry followed concerns raised
last year in the United States and
subsequently in Australia, about
practices that may be detrimental to
investors.
The Commission intends to release a
statement of its findings shortly.
The statement will include preventive
measures that fund managers are
encouraged to employ, to reduce
the risk of market abuse. The
statement will be available on
www.seccom.govt.nz. |
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Staff appointment  Alastair Boult has joined the Commission as Head of Accounting. A chartered accountant with more than 20 years' experience in public sector auditing and reporting, Alastair was previously Audit New Zealand's Technical Director. He is a member of a number of Institute of Chartered Accountants (ICANZ) working parties. Alastair is also a member of the Victoria University Advisory Board for the Centre for Accounting, Governance and Taxation Research.
Waikato student wins first Securities Commission prize
Daniel Miller from Westmount School
in the Waikato was the top scoring
candidate in the savings and investment
question of Enterprise New Zealand
Trust's financial literacy exam for 2004.
Daniel's full marks for the question
earned him a cheque for $200 from the
Commission.
The prize is part of the Commission's
sponsorship of the savings and
investment module of ENZT's
Financial Literacy Certificate which is
offered in many New Zealand secondary
schools.
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