A New South Wales court has sentenced a man to 17 months in jail for insider trading.

An Australian citizen has been jailed for 17 months after pleading guilty to insider trading in resources and metals sectors, the country’s financial watchdog said yesterday.

The jail term was imposed by the New South Wales Supreme Court on Michael William Hull from Sydney. He was sentenced to an effective head sentence of 17 months, from 3 June to 2 November 2017, but to be released on 2 January 2017, after serving seven months, upon giving security by way of recognisance to be of good behaviour for 18 months from his release, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission said. 

Hull pleaded guilty to trading in the shares of Mac Services Limited, Giralia Resources NL and Jabiru Metals Limited while in possession of inside information between 8 September 2010 and 9 February 2011, ASIC said.

The inside information was allegedly conveyed to Hull by a close friend who was employed in the investment banking department of a global financial services company that worked on major corporate transactions involving those companies.

The matter was prosecuted by the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions.

ASIC began an investigation into Hull's share trading in 2011, following a referral from its market surveillance team, and charged him with insider trading in 2014.