justice john gilmour has reserved his decision

Andrew "Twiggy" Forrest faces a nervous wait after the judge in a court hearing today reserved his decision in a civil proceeding against the mining billionaire and his Fortescue Metals Group.

Justice John Gilmour will consider evidence heard after five weeks of argument and counter-argument in the Federal Court in Perth. He is expected to take several months to reach a decision.


The Australian Securities and Investments Commission claims Fortescue and Mr Forrest misled the market over the content of public announcements the company made in 2004.

Fortescue claimed to have "binding contracts" with three state-owned Chinese companies to build and finance its Pilbara iron ore projects.

ASIC contends the deals were "framework agreements" which were not binding on either party.

Fortescue disputes this, claiming the Chinese backflipped on the deals after negotiations about an equity stake in Fortescue broke down.

Fortescue's share price increased almost ten-fold in the months during and after the deals were announced, but plunged 25 per cent in a day after publishing details of the agreements.

The fall was after the publication of an Australian Financial Review article in which the Chinese claimed the agreements were not binding.

If found guilty, Mr Forrest faces being banned as a director of the company he holds a $2.8 billion stake in. He could face fines of about $4 million, while Fortescue could be fined $6 million.