7 Dec 2012

$10,000 penalty for trading in Trade Me

12:53 pm on 7 December 2012

An unnamed stock broker will pay at least $10,000 for breaching rules after acquiring Trade Me stock in the share float.

NZX says the advisor transferred money to a client, who used it to buy 1500 Trade Me shares during its initial public offering, which were then transferred back to the advisor through an off-market transfer.

That breached a number of NZX rules, including restrictions for brokers in participating in IPOs, and needing permission from their firm to trade shares on their own personal account.

The settlement recognises that it was a one-off offence, the advisor admitted fault early on, they faced disciplinary action from their firm, and no client suffered as a result of the breaches.