ASIC has banned Mr David Stephen Cornford of Centennial Park, New South Wales, from providing financial services for six years. Mr Cornford was employed as an adviser at Kaz Capital Pty Ltd between 2014 and 2017.

ASIC’s concerns related to Mr Cornford:

• buying and selling listed securities on clients’ accounts without the      authorisation to do so; and
• trading Contracts for Difference (CFDs) in a personal capacity, in a manner that conflicted with the interests of his clients.

ASIC found that Mr Cornford had:

• taken part in transactions that had, or were likely to have, the effect of creating or maintaining an artificial price for trading in shares;
• did acts that had, or were likely to have, the effect of creating, or causing the creation of, a false or misleading appearance with respect to the market for, or the price for trading in, shares; and
• provided  a financial service when the Australian financial services licence of Kaz Capital, where Mr Cornford was employed at the time, did not cover the provision of the service.

Mr Cornford has the right to appeal to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal for a review of ASIC's decision.

Background

On 16 January 2019, ASIC imposed licence conditions on Kaz Capital following concerns about the adequacy and effectiveness of its compliance framework. The conditions require Kaz Capital to appoint an independent expert to review the effectiveness of its implementation of recommendations for remediation made by another external consultant (19-006MR).

The integrity of both listed securities and the retail over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives sector are key focus areas for ASIC.

Maintaining the integrity of our markets is critical for promoting investor trust and confidence in financial markets. Mr Cornford traded CFDs, in a personal capacity, that referenced the price of the securities traded for his clients.

ASIC’s Market Supervision team is responsible for surveillance of trading across Australia’s listed and OTC markets and is further enhancing its capabilities to detect cross-market misconduct.