ASIC has banned Mr Peter Gordon Cameron of Unley Park, South Australia, from providing financial services for six years.

Mr Cameron was a stockbroker and authorised representative of Tricom Equities Ltd and Tricom Futures Services Pty Ltd from 10 March 2004 until 2 February 2009, and of Tricom Investment Management Ltd (now known as Glenbridge Asset Management Ltd) from 6 October 2004 until 2 February 2009.

Mr Cameron is the sole director of Rational Capital Management Pty Ltd (RCM), which was also an authorised Tricom representative until 2 February 2009. RCM was the investment manager of one of Tricom’s registered managed investment schemes, the Pegasus Growth Fund (Pegasus).

The Pegasus fund invested in shares in listed companies, including Community Life (CLF). The value of Pegasus was determined by the market value of its investments.

ASIC found that a number of purchases of CLF shares made by Mr Cameron between
8 February 2007 and 25 January 2008 on behalf of Pegasus, RCM and a client were made to set or maintain an artificial price for CFL shares, contrary to the anti-market manipulation provisions of the Corporations Act. ASIC also found that Mr Cameron made inaccurate records of instructions given to him by the client.

The investigation arose from a referral by the Australian Securities Exchange to ASIC.

ASIC believes Mr Cameron’s conduct warrants being banned from the financial services industry for an extended period in the interests of both protecting the community and ensuring public confidence in the financial services industry. ASIC will not hesitate to ban individuals who disregard their obligations under the Corporations Act.

Mr Cameron has the right to appeal to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal for a review of ASIC’s decision.

Background

CLF was an illiquid stock and its share price could be increased significantly at little cost. The ASIC delegate found that on several occasions Mr Cameron set the closing price of CLF shares higher for the week, month or quarter by actively bidding for small parcels of shares at high prices, usually late in the day and sometimes in multiple bids, and so increased the valuation of Pegasus due to the increased value of its substantial CLF shareholdings.