The New South Wales Supreme Court has ordered Macquarie Securities (Australia) to pay a $35 million pecuniary penalty.
The fine follows an intervention by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission regarding systemic misreporting of short sales spanning more than 14 years.
The court found that between December 2009 and February 2024, significant technical deficiencies within Macquarie’s internal systems resulted in the inaccurate reporting of at least 73 million short sale transactions.
Further analysis suggested the scope of the administrative breakdown was even broader, with between 298 million and 1.5 billion transactions potentially misreported during the period.
Despite numerous internal reviews, these "significant technical deficiencies" remained undetected for over a decade, undermining the transparency of the Australian Securities Exchange and Cboe Australia.
In his judgment, Justice Nixon emphasised the necessity of a substantial fine to serve as a deterrent, stating the $35 million sum provides the "necessary sting" to ensure future compliance.
"MSAL acknowledged that its contravening conduct did result in harm," Justice Nixon noted, highlighting that inaccurate data has the potential to mislead traders, investors, and regulators alike.
Beyond the financial penalty, Macquarie Securities must appoint an independent expert to overhaul its regulatory reporting systems and reimburse ASIC’s legal costs.