A former Australian investment manager, who was convicted of insider trading and tipping using confidential information stolen from a client’s computer, has been sentenced to six years in prison.
In a federal court in Sydney, an ex-fund manager, Rodney Forrest, was sentenced after pleading guilty to insider trading charges that arose from an investigation by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC).
According to the regulator, in 2024, Forrest launched his own firm, Sublime Asset Management, and in August of that year, it entered an investment management agreement with a family office controlled by Michael Cole, the chairman of Regal Partners Ltd., which became the source for illicit insider trading.
The ASIC said while he was left unsupervised in Cole’s office, Forrest accessed Cole’s email and photographed a confidential pitch deck, detailing Regal’s planned takeover offer for another firm, Platinum Asset Management Inc.
Forrest then traded on that information, acquiring A$2.7 million worth of shares in Platinum, before also tipping others and leaking details of the proposed deal to the media — ultimately generating more than A$300,000 in trading profits for himself.
The ASIC said Forrest’s trading activity was detected by its market surveillance team, which led to an investigation by its new insider trading team, which was formed to step up enforcement against illegal insider trading. The case is the first prosecution to be completed based on an investigation by the new unit.
Prior to being charged last August, Forrest agreed to plead guilty, to adopt an agreed statement of facts for sentencing and to forfeit his illicit trading profits. The court has now also sentenced him to five years in prison for insider trading, and two years for tipping, with one of those years to be served concurrently. He will be eligible for parole on Jan. 22, 2029.
“While some insider trading cases can take several years, Mr. Forrest went from crime to jail time in just over a year, underscoring ASIC’s determination to fast-track criminal cases of this type,” said ASIC chair, Joe Longo, in a release.
“ASIC will continue cracking down on insider trading and other misconduct that damages market integrity,” he added.