ASIC v. Macquarie Bank Limited (2017)
Settled
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.
In May 2017 ASIC accepted an enforceable undertaking from Macquarie Bank Limited over inadequate systems and controls in its wholesale spot FX and non-deliverable forward businesses, after identifying disclosure of confidential client-order information and stop-loss trading that may have been intended to trigger prices between 2008 and 2013. Macquarie made a A$2 million community benefit payment; no civil penalty was imposed and no manipulation finding was made.
The record
| Agency | ASIC |
|---|---|
| Release number | 17-144MR |
| Date filed | 2017-05-19 |
| Date resolved | 2017-05-19 |
| Status | settled |
| Asset class | fx |
| Criminal parallel | No |
| Defendants | Macquarie Bank Limited |
| Techniques |
What was ordered
- Civil penalty
- —
- Disgorgement
- —
- Prejudgment interest
- —
- Total relief
- —
- Alleged gain
- —
What is alleged to have happened
the Australian Securities and Investments Commission announced this matter on May 19, 2017 as release 17-144MR. The respondent is Macquarie Bank Limited.
ASIC identified conduct by Macquarie's spot FX employees between January 2008 and June 2013 in three categories: disclosing to external third parties confidential details of pending client orders, including the client's identity; disclosing confidential and potentially material information about Macquarie's own trading activity tied to large pending AUD orders; and, on a number of occasions, trading as the market approached the trigger price of a client's stop-loss order in a manner that may have been intended to cause the order to trigger when it might not otherwise have traded at that time.
ASIC's concern is that the bank did not have adequate controls to detect and respond to the conduct; it says only that stop-loss trading may have been intended to cause a trigger price to trade. The release does not find a price was manipulated. This library carries no technique tag on this matter.
The conduct is recorded against fx.
This matter was resolved through a court enforceable undertaking rather than a civil penalty proceeding, so no admission of a contravention and no civil monetary penalty are recorded; Macquarie agreed to a $2 million community benefit payment to The Smith Family and to an independently assessed remediation program for its systems, controls and supervision of spot FX and non-deliverable forwards trading. ASIC's release does not specify the number of instances of the conduct or identify the employees involved.
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.
Timeline
Primary documents
Everything on this page derives from the documents below. Where our summary and the primary document disagree, the primary document is right.