asx chairs son had role in licence

FYI.....

It is interesting that the D&B report dated 07/11/2006 that I posted today reported that James Newman was still a director as at that date. See the article below where he says he resinged in March 2005. Hmmmm



http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,23480812-643,00.html

ASX chair's son had role in licence

Adele Ferguson | April 04, 2008

THE son of ASX chairman Maurice Newman owned 50 per cent of a stockbroking licence later used to create Opes Prime, the broking house put into receivership on Friday and involved in the biggest ASX scandal in decades.

James Newman, 39, worked for and became a business partner of Anthony Blumberg, a director and one of the founders of Opes Prime. The pair bought a stockbroking licence from St George Bank in 2001.

That licence includes a nominee company called Green Frog, which now contains tens of millions of dollars in shares and untradeable options and is at the centre of debate as to who owns it: the creditors or clients of Opes Prime.

Mr Newman is now executive national client relationships and business development at Link Market Services, a registry business previously known as ASX Perpetual when it was 50 per cent owned by the ASX.

It was sold two years ago to Pacific Equity Partners.

Mr Newman told The Australian: "Yes, I was a fellow director with Julian Smith, Anthony Blumberg and Laurie Emini in 2004 in a Nominee Company called Green Frog Nominees, a subsidiary of Nexus Stockbroking Services. I was involved with Nexus Stockbroking Services and Green Frog Nominees for a limited time, and for a limited purpose. That purpose was to re-establish a dormant stockbroking licence and obtain a Australian Financial Services Licence."

He reinvigorated the broking licence at the time his father was on the board of the ASX.

Unlike most stockbroking licences, this one included a nominee company called Green Frog Nominees. By having its own nominee company, Nexus was in a position to hold its own clients' securities and to run its lending practices away from the gaze of the ASX.

"I resigned as a director in March 2005, as my fellow directors wanted to pursue an online stockbroking business for which I did not share the same enthusiasm. At no time have I had any ownership or directorship of Opes Prime or Leveraged Capital," Mr Newman said.

He said he had been following in the newspapers the events of the Opes Prime and Leveraged Capital collapse. "It is certainly a tragic situation and I hope that a satisfactory resolution can be achieved for all involved."

Like Mr Newman, who has expressed regret at the demise of Opes Prime, investors will no doubt be seeking assurances that proper processes were followed in assessing the suitability of his then broking partner as well as the subsequent partners that he sold to, to hold a broking licence in the first place.

The collapse of Opes Prime has opened up a full-scale investigation of false accounting and possible manipulation of six key accounts worth $200 million to help clients to avoid margin calls.

It is alleged that Opes staff moved shares between the accounts of clients with margin loans in a "round robin" fashion.

By moving shares, or by changing loan-to-valuation ratios, accounts could be made to look healthier, avoiding margin calls that could have forced the clients to dump shares or inject extra cash.

In 2005, Newman sold his 50 per cent stake in the stockbroking licence to Emini and Smith and resigned from the Green Frog board.

The licence was used to create Opes Prime.

Share lending is a business activity at the heart of the recent controversy. It allows hedge funds to borrow stock to short sell companies and buy them back at a later date at a much cheaper price.

During this time of turmoil, the ASX has been heavily criticised for its inability to gain an accurate picture of stock lending, a key element of the recent outburst of short selling that has caused some investors to allege that the Australian share market's integrity has been damaged.

One of the clients of Opes Prime, Tom Karas's State Credit Corp, said he got wind that something was wrong with Opes Prime in early March and decided to ask for his shares back. "We asked for our shares back. They took them out of Opes Prime and now they are held in your own name. I believe they are safe in Green Frog," he said.

Deloittes and Ferrier Hodgson will meet today to discuss a variety of items including the future of Green Frog, to determine who will take control of it, and who is entitled to the millions of dollars' worth of assets still sitting inside it.