OpenMarkets Australia pays infringement penalty
Online stockbroker OpenMarkets Australia breached market integrity rules in relation to both the ASX Market and Chi-X Australia Market throughout 2015 and 2016 and will pay a $200,000 infringement penalty, according to the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC).
ASIC said the breaches related to filters on the use of automated order processing (AOP) systems had rendered OpenMarkets’ actions as non-compliant with its Australian financial services licence (AFSL).
The Markets Disciplinary Panel (MDP) found that OpenMarkets did not have appropriate filters for:
- The prevention of trades that involved no change of beneficial ownership;
- To reject the placement of sell orders which exceeded maximum order value limits;
- To reject the placement of sell orders that were prohibited short sales; and
- The identification of orders that were priced far away from the prevailing price in other markets.
The penalty to OpenMarkets is $360,000 cheaper than it would have been prior to the firm’s agreement to the impositions of conditions on their AFSL last December.
AUTHOR
Hope William-Smith
Recommended for you
ASIC has released the results of its first adviser exam to be held in 2025, with 241 candidates attempting the test.
Quarterly Wealth Data analysis has uncovered positive improvements in financial adviser numbers compared with losses in the prior corresponding period.
Holding portfolios that are too complex or personalised can be a detractor for acquirers of financial advice firms as they require too much effort to maintain post-acquisition.
As the financial advice profession continues to wait on further DBFO legislation, industry commentators have encouraged advisers to act now in driving practice efficiency.
