What is going on at Macquarie Group? It’s a question many in the investment and legal communities are asking after the corporate regulator ASIC whacked the investment colossus with its second major enforcement action in the space of a fortnight. Including ASIC chair Joe Longo himself.
“What’s really serious about this case is that we've been here multiple times before,” Longo told Capital Brief in an interview after the regulator today announced it was suing Macquarie for failing to adequately report short positions for 14 years.
“What's really troubling about the situation is the cumulative effect. It's a cumulative number, if you like, of all these problems to say, well, what is going on in Macquarie?”
The case in the NSW Supreme Court is the fourth ASIC has filed against Macquarie in the past 12 months, but it could be the most expensive yet for the 'millionaire factory'. ASIC alleges that between 11 December 2009 and 14 February 2024, Macquarie Securities Australia Ltd (MSAL) failed to correctly report up to 1.5 billion short sales, opening the door to a penalty of up to $780 million under section 137G of the Corporations Act.
