Expert comment on ASIC's legal proceedings against Westpac, in relation to alleged insider trading in October 2016.
Elizabeth Sheedy, an expert in financial regulation at Macquarie University, said the insider trading case was unusual as it was against an institution, rather than individuals. “In theory, the bank’s policies and systems should have prevented anything like this from happening, but we already know that Westpac’s operational risk management systems were not up to scratch at the time of the alleged events,” she said. Sheedy said the case would be important for Asic, which last year lost a suit against Westpac related to responsible lending laws.