Reports to ASIC

I started the thread ‘Closing price manipulation?’ here on 8th May 2020, and posted into the thread ‘Unusual Trading Patterns’ on 4th Aug 2020. I am now advising shareholders that I submitted two reports on manipulative trading to ASIC, and advised Anteris, as follows:-
Main part of my first report to ASIC, early on Tues 28 July 2020:-

‘Many times in the last 4 months I have noticed Sell orders for less than 10 shares, sometimes just 1 share, at prices well below the last traded price. When executed, the effect of these orders is to lower the last traded price, and often this has been the Closing price for the day. For example, on 24th June 2020, the last trade before 4pm was at $4.99, but a Sell order for 9 shares, executed in the closing auction at 4.10pm, brought the Closing price down to $4.80, setting a lower benchmark for the next day’s trading. Two other examples were shown in a post which I placed on the Hotcopper forum on 8th May 2020, under the nickname ‘phil5200’, entitled ‘Closing price manipulation?’. I have since noticed similar Sell orders placed in the pre-open and normal trading times. A search for all Sell orders of less than 10 shares in the last 4 months would probably find more than 100 such orders. This seems to be a persistent and determined campaign.
Regarding the above:-
. the small Sell orders must have been placed by ‘sophisticated’ shareholders or traders with privileged access to the market, as retail holders such as clients of Commsec can only place orders valued at more than $500.
. this activity would not be carried out by genuine shareholders interested in the success of the company.
. have these orders been placed by or on behalf of one shareholder, or a few acting together, and are any substantial holders?‘.

Anteris made its announcement, ‘Unusual Trading Patterns’, on the following Thur 30 July 2020. This was probably coincidental, and I am not claiming that it was a result of my report to ASIC. I advised Anteris of my report through their ‘contact us’ web page later, on 5 August 2020. This was not acknowledged. ASIC acknowledged my report by email on 12th August 2020.

A few days after the ‘Unusual Trading Patterns’ announcement, the AVR price stopped falling, rose slowly from $3.03 to $4.40 over about 3 weeks in August, and has since traded in a narrow range around $3.90 - $4.00. I started keeping screen shots of the Buy/Sell orders at several times through the day, and the daily Course of Trades, and noticed many examples of what I consider to be manipulative orders and trades. I made a second, more detailed report to ASIC on 29 September 2020, and copy to Anteris on the same date.
Second report to ASIC, on 29 September 2020:-

‘On 30th July, Anteris announced to the market a ‘Response to Unusual Trading Patterns’. Downward trading continued, including small ‘downtick’ Sell orders, until 5th August, closing at $3.03. From 6th to 26th August, there were no ‘downtick’ orders initially, and the closing price increased by small amounts, between 0c and 19c, average about 9.5c per day, to $4.40 on 26th August. In this period, there were often large Sell orders in the market, for 1000, 2000, or 3000 shares, at just 5c or 10c above the previous Close, limiting the daily rise. ‘Downtick’ Sell orders started appearing again near the end of this period.
From 27th August to 28th September 2020, the Closing price has generally been around $3.90 - $4.00, with many ‘downtick’ orders, and Sell orders for 3000 shares @ just above the previous Close. Following are examples of orders placed in the market on a daily basis, which I consider are intended to hold down the share price, and the real value of the Company:-

. ‘downtick’ Sell orders - small orders at or below the current highest buyer’s bid price, or below the last traded price. Retail investors, eg. clients of CommSec, have a lower limit of $500 on orders, so I regard any ‘downtick’ order below $500 as manipulative, as it can only be placed by a ‘sophisticated’ trader with direct access to the market, and, it can be inferred, with no pressing need for the sale proceeds.
- 14th Sep 20, at 10.19.09am [email protected], 12.54.26pm [email protected], after 4pm [email protected], ex’d @3.81, lowered Close from -12c to -18c.
- 15th Sep 20, at 10.49.20am [email protected], 3.54.35pm [email protected].
- 17th Sep 20, at 12.49.22pm [email protected], 1.05.11pm [email protected], 1.14.30pm [email protected], 1.18.30pm [email protected], 1.19.26pm [email protected],
1.29.24pm [email protected], after 4pm [email protected] and [email protected] orders placed, and [email protected] withdrawn,
Close at $3.88, -12c from Prev, Buy/Sell collusion?

. price rise ‘blocking’ Sell orders - note that these examples are from screenshots of the orders in the market at the times stated, they would have been placed at an earlier time.
- 18th Aug 20, at both 3.53.08pm & 4.09.07pm, 2 orders, [email protected] and [email protected],
- 19th Aug 20, at both 1.21.23pm & 4.09.26pm, 3 orders, [email protected], 10000@ 4.20, and [email protected],
- 24th Aug 20, at both 10.00.02am & 10.03.36am, 2 orders, [email protected] and [email protected],
- 26 & 27 Aug 20, and 10, 11, 15, 16, 17, 18, 21, 22, 24, 25, and 28th Sep 20, at pre-Open, 2 orders, first, 3000@near prev. Close,
and second, 3000@extra 5c above first,
- 23rd Sep 20, at pre-Open, [email protected].

. top-ups to ‘blocking’ Sell orders during trading.
- 21st Aug 20, @$4.20, 3515 shares sold until none left at 11.01.44am, trades then rose to $4.25 & $4.26 until 12.52.18pm, [email protected] and [email protected] added to market & sold by 1.21.34pm, trades then up to $4.30 until 2.01.29pm, about [email protected] added in 2 or more Sell orders, trades after 2.06pm then at or below $4.20, incl. [email protected].
- 25th Sep 20, most trades @4.08, Sell [email protected] and [email protected] added to market during afternoon.
- 28th Sep 20, [email protected] in top-up and new Sell orders added between 11.20.51am and 1.56.06pm.

. possible Buy/Sell collusion - one trader buying/selling the same shares, or 2 or more buying/selling to/from each other - churning? what proportion of the daily trades did not result in a real change of beneficial ownership on, say, 24th & 25th Aug 20, and 25th & 28th Sep 20?

It may not be illegal to place any one of the Orders listed above, but this sustained daily activity amounts to an attack on the value of the company, just as serious as physical damage or theft. The value of many shareholder’s holdings is now below their purchase cost. The ASX has rules and guidelines for market participants regarding manipulative trading. ASIC, the ASX, and any other relevant authority, should investigate which shareholder(s) placed the Orders listed above and which market participant(s) facilitated their placement, and fully inform the company, shareholders, and the market, of their findings.‘

The second report has not been acknowledged by ASIC or Anteris. Similar manipulative activity has continued, recently there has been a ‘wall’ of Sell orders blocking any substantial rise, eg. on 16 Oct 2020, Sell [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], & [email protected], all placed around 10am, and similar on 26 Oct.

I have asked simple questions about a specific list of orders - who placed the orders, and through which market participant (broker)? As far as I know, the answers should be in the trading records, and easily found by anyone who has access to the records. There has been plenty of time for an investigation, and we all need to know the outcome. If ASIC has bigger fish to fry, or just concludes that the activity is not illegal, where else can we turn?

The first step in solving a problem is to recognise that you have a problem. If anyone has access to the top brass at Anteris, could they bring these reports to their attention? And what happened to their investigation into ‘unusual trading patterns’? They have done a good job in developing and promoting an excellent product, but they also need to protect the company from malicious and damaging activity.

I was stung a few years ago when CFC went under and good IP was sold off cheaply. I don’t want the same to happen to Anteris.