Two men jailed in Australia’s largest insider trading case
Date published
March 2015
Relevant impacts: Financial impact, reputational impact and industry impact
An Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) employee disclosed sensitive and unpublished ABS data which he obtained in his capacity as a Commonwealth official. This inside information was then used by an associate to conduct trades on the foreign exchange derivatives market. The pair knew that such information could make both of them large amounts of money. One man was sentenced to 7 years and 3 months in prison and the other man was sentenced to 3 years and 3 months in prison.
Related fraudster personas
Related countermeasures
A positive workplace culture can encourage ethical and supportive behaviours while discouraging fraudulent or corrupt activities. Staff will be less able to rationalise fraudulent or corrupt activities where a positive workplace culture exists. A culture built on honesty, transparency and integrity is a key organisational strength that can serve to reduce the risk of fraud. If weak countermeasures are the fuel, a bad culture can be the spark that ignites fraud and corruption.
Establish governance, accountability and oversight of processes by using delegations and requiring committees and project boards to oversee critical decisions and risk. Good governance, accountability and oversight increases transparency and reduces the opportunity for fraud.
Personal and government information is highly sought after by fraudsters and organised criminals. The way data is collected and stored can also change the scale and impact of a potential breach.
To better protect personal information, the minimal data required for a transaction should be collected, used and retained.
Make sure sensitive or official information cannot leave your entity's network without authority or detection.
Analyse data to improve processes and controls, increase payment accuracy and find and prevent non-compliance, fraud and corruption.
Collaborate with strategic partners such as other government entities, committees, working groups and taskforces. This allows you to share capability, information and intelligence and to prevent and disrupt fraud.
These are penalties for customers, staff or third parties that commit fraud or do not comply with rules, processes and expectations.
These are processes that identify and recover debts owed by staff, customers and third parties.
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