ASIC has banned former Gleneagle Securities fund manager and authorised representative Gregory Tolpigin from providing financial services for three years, after he was found to have engaged in naked short selling.

Naked short selling occurs when a person sells certain financial products such as shares that are not held and cannot be transferred to a buyer at the time the person places the sell orders.

ASIC found Mr Tolpigin engaged in the naked short selling of shares on 150 occasions totalling over $7 million from 19 January to 27 August 2021.

Mr Tolpigin sold shares on the ASX through accounts held with Gleneagle Securities and associated entities. Mr Tolpigin did not own or borrow the shares at the time he placed the orders to sell them.

Mr Tolpigin’s sales risked settlement failure in the event that he was unable to buy the shares back prior to settlement, for example if the shares had been suspended from trading.

The naked short selling also distorted the accuracy of the ASX gross short sales report, published daily. The accuracy of this information contributes to the integrity of Australia’s financial markets.

In addition to being banned from providing financial services, Mr Tolpigin is also banned from controlling a financial services business or performing any function involved in carrying on a financial services business as an officer.

ASIC is reviewing compliance by market participants with the short selling regime. ASIC views the prohibition on naked short selling as an essential policy for the maintenance of financial market integrity. It reduces the risk of settlement failure, distortions to the operation of financial markets and abusive short selling that can artificially depress prices. It also improves the accuracy of information available to the market. ASIC will continue to identify non-compliance and take enforcement action where necessary.

Background

ASIC Regulatory Guide 196 Short selling (RG 196) contains further guidance on short selling, including on the naked short selling prohibition and disclosure regime for covered short sales. Traders and market participants should be aware of the short selling regime and requirements, while ensuring that adequate controls and checks are in place to reasonably assure compliance with the regime.

The naked short selling prohibition forbids a person selling certain financial products such as shares that are not held and cannot be transferred to the buyer. The seller must hold the shares and be able to transfer them at the time of placing an order to sell, when the sell order matches with a buy order causing a trade and when settlement occurs two business days later.

A person may ‘borrow’ shares before selling them.  That is, the person first acquires the shares with the right to sell them but has an obligation to return the equivalent number of shares back to the ‘lender’ at a future time. This is known as ‘covered’ short selling. It does not contravene the provision but the seller has separate obligations to disclose covered short sales to the market through short sale transaction reporting and separate short position reporting.

ASIC recognises that covered short selling, when carried out within the legislative and regulative parameters, is a legitimate mechanism for price discovery and liquidity. ASIC does not seek to limit or restrict short selling that is compliant with the legal and regulatory regime.