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ASIC bans former financial adviser for market manipulation (2015)

Judgment entered

Checked against the primary document on October 2, 2026. The library's summary, tags and figures for this record were compared with the regulator's own document by an AI model (Claude) following written instructions, with sampled and disputed records read a second time. No lawyer has reviewed them. A checked record can still contain errors, and checked does not mean endorsed. See how we check records or report a correction.

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In December 2015 ASIC banned former financial adviser Tony Davidof from providing financial services for three years, finding he manipulated the price of Credit Suisse MINI warrants on the ASX through two pre-arranged back-to-back trades with a former Credit Suisse employee in February and June 2013, designed to move profit and loss from SPI Futures trades. He has a right of review by the Administrative Appeals Tribunal; the release reports no appeal.

The record

Structured fields for this action, as recorded in our case library.
Agency ASIC
Release number 15-398MR
Date filed 2015-12-18
Status judgment
Criminal parallel No
Defendants Tony Davidof (individual)
Techniques Price manipulation , Matched orders

What was ordered

Civil penalty
—
Disgorgement
—
Prejudgment interest
—
Total relief
—
Alleged gain
—

A dash means the release did not state a figure we could extract, not that the figure is zero. Penalty and disgorgement are stored separately so aggregates across the library do not double-count the same dollars.

What is alleged to have happened

the Australian Securities and Investments Commission announced this matter on December 18, 2015 as release 15-398MR. The respondent named is Tony Davidof (1 individual, 0 entities).

ASIC found the two traded at prices, volumes and timing agreed in advance, which was likely to create an artificial price in the MINIs; the prices transferred gains and losses from separate futures trades. This library tags the matter as price manipulation and matched orders.

For the regulator's own account of the facts, read the primary document linked above. This page deliberately summarises the structured record rather than reproducing the release.

What technique is this, and how does it work?

This action is tagged with 2 techniques in our taxonomy. The tagging is ours: regulators charge statutory provisions, not technique names, so the mapping is an editorial judgement described in our editorial policy.

Timeline

  1. 2015-12-18 ASIC media release

Primary documents

Everything on this page derives from the documents below. Where our summary and the primary document disagree, the primary document is right.

The linked release is published by the issuing regulator under its own terms. Our summary and narrative above are our own writing.

Same matter

The library links these 2 records because they appear to concern one matter: the same lead defendant, an overlapping technique tag and close filing dates, or a shared court docket or a release that cites the other. Records are listed by date filed.

Date filed Agency Record Status
2015-12-18 ASIC ASIC bans former financial adviser for market manipulation (2015)(this record) Judgment entered
2017-12-11 ASIC AAT upholds ASIC bans of client advisers for trading in 'MINI' warrants (ASIC, 2017) Judgment entered

This grouping is the library's, made by matching names, techniques, dates and citations when the site is built. It is not the regulator's or a court's determination that the records are one case, and it errs towards missing a link rather than making a false one.

Other actions in the library sharing at least one technique tag with this one.

Action Agency Filed Technique Penalty Status
SEC v. George Matin (matched orders, 2019) SEC 2019-09-25 Matched Orders , Price Manipulation — settled
SEC v. Harold Minsky (matched orders, 2019) SEC 2019-09-25 Matched Orders , Price Manipulation — settled
Court reduces jail time for New South Wales man sentenced for market manipulation (ASIC, 2016) ASIC 2016-02-29 Matched Orders , Price Manipulation — judgment
NSW man jailed for market manipulation (ASIC, 2015) ASIC 2015-09-25 Matched Orders , Price Manipulation — judgment
New South Wales man pleads guilty to market manipulation (ASIC, 2014) ASIC 2014-10-16 Matched Orders , Price Manipulation — judgment
SEC v. Corey Ortiz (free riding and parking, 2026) SEC 2026-09-03 Free Riding And Parking , Matched Orders — judgment

Record added September 10, 2026. submit a correction.