Mr Trevor Christian Lam, of Hunters Hill in New South Wales, was sentenced today in the District Court in Sydney in relation to one charge brought by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC).
On 28 August 2007, Mr Lam, 35, pleaded guilty to a charge of dishonestly using his position as an employee of Macquarie Bank Limited (Macquarie) with the intention of gaining an advantage for another person.
Between September 2005 and January 2006, Mr Lam, a Macquarie private client adviser, engaged in dishonest conduct by arranging for the unauthorised transfer of Australian Securities Exchange traded call option contracts (with unrealised losses in excess of $210,000) from his girlfriend’s account at Macquarie to another client’s superannuation fund account.
Mr Lam was sentenced to 18 months imprisonment, fully suspended upon him entering into a recognisance to be of good behaviour for 18 months and accept the supervision of probation and parole services for such time as they see fit.
Mr Lam ceased employment with Macquarie in March 2006. Macquarie, which referred the matter to ASIC, compensated the client for losses and cooperated fully with ASIC’s investigation.
ASIC’s Executive Director for Enforcement, Ms Jan Redfern, said that a breach of trust or responsibility by an adviser toward a client was a serious matter and eroded confidence in the profession.
In December 2006, ASIC banned Mr Lam from providing financial services for five years.
The Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions prosecuted the matter.
