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30 September 2018

ERoad - Hamish Sansom and Jeffrey Peter Honey

Background

This case concerns alleged insider trading involving shares in Eroad (NZX: ERD) under the Financial Markets Conduct Act 2013 (FMCA). The Financial Markets Authority (FMA) filed charges in March 2017 against a current and a former Eroad employee. One defendant, Jeffrey Peter Honey, pleaded guilty to one charge of insider trading for being an information insider who advised or encouraged another person to trade (s 243(1)(a) and s 244 FMCA) and was sentenced in June 2017 to six months’ home detention. The other defendant, Hamish Marc Sansom, faced a charge of insider trading for trading while an information insider (s 241 FMCA). His first High Court trial in March 2018 resulted in a hung jury; a subsequent jury trial in Auckland in September 2018 acquitted him, accepting his defence that the timing of the alleged tip was coincidental and that he had already planned to sell shares to pay a personal debt. Overall, the proceedings produced one conviction and sentence (Honey) and one acquittal after a retrial (Sansom).

Timeline

September 2018

Jury found Hamish Marc Sansom not guilty of selling Eroad shares as a result of a tip from a fellow company employee.

The High Court jury in Auckland accepted Sansom's defense that the tip was a coincidence of timing, and he was already planning to sell the shares to pay a debt to his builder.

18 March 2018

A trial at the High Court for Mr Sansom resulted in a hung jury. He faces one charge of insider trading under section 241 Financial Markets Conduct Act – namely, information insider must not trade.

14 June 2017

Jeffrey Peter Honey was sentenced yesterday to six months home detention at the Auckland District Court, after pleading guilty to one charge of insider trading under section 243(1)(a) and section 244 Financial Markets Conduct Act. Mr Honey admitted to being an information insider advising and encouraging another person to trade.

The insider trading charges relate to trading in shares of Eroad (NZX: ERD).

11 April 2017

Defendant, Jeffrey Peter Honey pleaded guilty at the Auckland District Court to one charge of insider trading under section 243 Financial Markets Conduct Act - namely, being an information insider advising or encouraging another person to trade.

9 March 2017

Charges filed in court: The FMA filed charges in the Auckland District Court alleging breaches of the insider trading prohibitions contained in the Financial Markets Conduct Act 2013 (FMCA). The charges were filed in relation to trading in shares of Eroad (NZX:ERD). The individuals charged are a current and a former Eroad employee.