Mr Darren Wayne Thompson, 39, has today pleaded not guilty in the Downing Centre Local Court in Sydney to 11 separate charges of procuring insider trading. The charges were brought after an ASIC investigation.
Mr Thompson was formerly employed by Credit Suisse Management Australia as a vice president in its investment banking department.
ASIC alleges that on 11 separate occasions between 25 May 2008 and 3 June 2011, Mr Thompson procured a close friend, Mr Michael William Hull, to purchase the shares of 7 Australian listed companies while in possession of inside information about those companies that he had acquired as a result of his employment.
Mr Hull's profits from those trades (realised and unrealised) totalled approximately $492,000.
The matter was adjourned and will return to Sydney's Downing Centre Local Court on 15th November 2016.
On 3 June 2016, Mr Hull was sentenced to 17 months imprisonment after pleading guilty to insider trading charges brought by ASIC and prosecuted by the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions (see: 16-179MR). Mr Hull's insider trading was identified by ASIC’s market surveillance team and referred to ASIC’s markets enforcement team for investigation and enforcement action.
The Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions is prosecuting the matter.
Background
The maximum penalties associated with the alleged offences, subject to the date(s) on which they were committed, are either five years imprisonment and/or a fine of $220,000, or 10 years imprisonment and/or a fine of $495,000.
Editor's note:
On 15 November 2016, this matter was mentioned in the Downing Centre Local Court, where it was stood over to 20 December 2016.
Editor's note 2:
On 6 December 2016, this matter was brought before the court for an urgent application at the request of Mr Thompson's legal advisors, and was adjourned to 24 January 2017, for further mention.
Editor's note 3:
On 24 January 2017, this matter was mentioned in the Downing Centre Local Court, where it was set down for further mention on 2 May 2017, and listed for a committal hearing on 22 & 23 May 2017.