SYDNEY, May 14 (Xinhua) -- Australia's corporate regulator said on Wednesday it is suing the brokering arm of the country's multinational financial services group Macquarie Group, alleging it misreported short sales for over a decade.
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) said in a statement on Wednesday that it has commenced legal proceedings against Macquarie Securities (Australia) Limited (MSAL) in the Supreme Court of the country's state of New South Wales.
The regulator said that it alleges that the MSAL failed to correctly report its volume of short sales by up to 1.5 billion between December 2009 and February 2024.
It is ASIC's first short sale reporting case and the fourth regulatory action the watchdog has taken against the Macquarie Group in just over 12 months. Obligations to report short sales were introduced in Australia in 2009 following the global financial crisis.
"We allege Macquarie's failures may have led to the financial services industry relying on misleading and false information for over 14 years," ASIC chair Joe Longo said in a statement.
Macquarie Group said in a press release on Wednesday that "specific issues with MSAL's daily reporting of the number of shares short sold were first identified by MSAL and self-reported to ASIC in late 2022."
A number of related issues were subsequently identified and self-reported, Macquarie said.
The MSAL is now reviewing ASIC's claim, said the release. "As the matter is before the court, it would be inappropriate for Macquarie to make further comment." ■
