Compliance
Australian Regulator Punishes Former Advisor Over Fake Family Office Scam
The watchdog has banned a former director of a Macquarie Agricultural Funds Management for six years.
Australia’s financial regulator has banned a former financial
advisor from the industry for six years for conduct involving the
creation of a fake family office.
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission imposed the
ban on Timothy Hornibrook of Clovelly, New South Wales.
Hornibrook, formerly a director and responsible manager of
Australian financial services licensee Macquarie
Agricultural Funds Management, was banned after ASIC found that
he contravened financial services laws whilst he was a director
and responsible manager, the watchdog said in a statement.
In early 2011, Hornibrook, a former co-head and head of Macquarie
Agricultural Funds Management, along with some members of the
MAFM sales team, conceived the concept of a fake family office,
named the Brook Family Office. The sales team then used two email
addresses for the BFO to extract confidential information from
MAFML's competitors in the agricultural investment sector on the
pretence that it was assessing potential investment opportunities
for its funds under management, the regulator
continued.
Hornibrook had breached his duties as an officer of a responsible
entity of a registered managed investment scheme by failing to
act honestly; misusing the information he acquired as a director
of MAFML in order to gain an improper advantage for himself,
MAFML and/or Macquarie Crop Partners LP; and misusing his
position as director of MAFML to gain an advantage for MAFML
and/or MCP.
ASIC's investigations are ongoing, it added.
