ASIC clears IOOF on insider trading but acts on culture
IOOF has reached agreement with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) to engage an external compliance consultant to conduct a comprehensive review of compliance across the company.
The agreement with ASIC represents the substantive outcome resulting from allegations raised against IOOF including that an IOOF staff member may have been involved in insider trading when they traded in securities prior to the release of IOOF research reports relating to those securities.
However surveillance conducted by ASIC found there was no serious substance to the insider trading allegations, with the review determining that the release of the research reports had no material effect on the price of the relevant securities and there was no other evidence to warrant the commencement of a formal investigation.
"As such we have decided to take no further action in relation to these allegations," the ASIC announcement said.
However it said its review of allegations relating to corporate governance and licensee breaches by IOOF had "identified a number of concerns relating to IOOF's compliance arrangements, breach reporting, management of conflicts of interest, staff trading policy, disclosure, whistleblower management and protection and cyber security".
"We have raised these concerns with IOOF. We have also advised IOOF that in our view the corporate culture at that time within IOOF contributed to these issues occurring," it said.
It said ASIC had reached an agreement with IOOF to engage an external compliance consultant to conduct an expanded, broader and more comprehensive review of compliance arrangements within all IOOF business units.
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