Bloomberg reported that a trader at the National Australia Bank Ltd and an employee of the country's statistical bureau had been arrested and slapped charges for colluding to profit illegally from insider trading.
The pair allegedly made A$7 million or $6.6 million profits from using government economic data, Australian Federal Police Acting National Manager of Crime Operations Ian McCartney disclosed to reporters in Canberra. The offense were said to have happened between August 2013 and May of this year, McCartney added, and that the indicted employee had acted independently from his employer. NAB confirmed that it had fired its employee.
Although names were withheld, AFP stated that it has charged a 26 year-old Melbourne man with insider trading and corruption of a public official. The 24 year-old Australian Bureau of Statistics employee has also been indicted with charges of insider trading, receiving a corrupt benefit, release of sensitive information and abuse of public office.
"Investigations like this send a clear message to anyone who is thinking of engaging in this type of criminal activity - we have the ability to monitor you and take action, as we've done today," McCartney stated in a statement.
According to head of markets enforcement Chris Savundra at the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, the trader had used foreign exchange derivatives in order to gain leveraged exposure to price movements in the foreign exchange market, earning profits from the inside information in the process.
Melbourne-based NAB spokesman Brian Walsh clarified to Bloomberg that no government unit systems or money or customer money was used by the indicted trader. Walsh also added that the trader made personal trades.
ABS said in a statement on its website that the employee had disclosed sensitive data that were under embargo. The government unit added that it has suspended the employee and that it will conduct a review in light of the breach. ABS stated, "(The arrested staff member is) a relatively junior officer with trusted access to a number of economic collections both pre- and post-publication."
