The Federal Court of Australia ruled today that HOCHTIEF
Aktiengesellschaft (‘HOCHTIEF’) should pay a civil penalty of A$400,000
as a result of a contraven-tion of the insider trading provisions of the
Corporations Act. In so ruling, the Court remarked that the
contravention "did not involve any dishonesty, or any deliberate or
intentional disregard of the law" and that "full regard must be given to
Hochtief AG's good corporate standing".
The Court also had regard
to the fact that HOCHTIEF had provided a "high level of cooperation" to
ASIC (since August 2014), had demonstrated genuine contrition and
remorse, and had taken remedial steps which "reflected a genuine attempt
to decrease the risk of any further contraventions".
The Court
noted that HOCHTIEF had voluntarily made a donation in the sum of
A$206,800 to the Australian Shareholders' Association and the indigenous
charity, the First Nations Foundation. The size of the donation
reflects the notional financial gain made by HOCHTIEF through the
procurement of shares in Leighton Holdings on a single day of trading
(February 3, 2014).