Photo :AI-GENERATED 

May18, 2025

Anna Murray 

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has initiated legal action against Macquarie in the NSW Supreme Court. The suit marks its fourth regulatory action against the investment bank in less than a year. Macquarie could be fined up to $783 million for repeatedly failing to adequately register millions of short-selling trades between 2009 and 2024.

Macquarie's broking unit misled the market by misreporting millions of short sales over a decade. ASIC believes Macquarie Securities failed to properly record the level of short sales to the market operator between December 2009 and February 2024.

The regulator claims Macquarie underreported the volume of short sales by at least $73 million. However, the ASIC claims that sales might range from $298 million to $1.5 billion. Australia Securities and Investments Commission chairman Joe Longo stated that this action is timely, considering the recent global market volatility.