Australian Securities & Investments Commission appoints Victoria Weekes as Markets Disciplinary Panel Chair and refreshes panel membership

The Australian Securities & Investments Commission (ASIC) has appointed a new Chair, Deputy Chair and three new members to the Markets Disciplinary Panel (MDP), alongside the retirement of five existing members. The MDP is the peer review panel that decides, on ASIC’s behalf, whether to issue infringement notices to market participants for alleged breaches of the market integrity rules. Victoria Weekes becomes Chair following the retirement of long-serving Chair Simon Gray, and Anthony Brittain has been appointed Deputy Chair. New members are Annette Spencer, Sebastien Bonvalet-Nicolle and Andrew Couper, while retiring members are Simon Gray, Anne Brown, Ian Chambers, Geoff Louw and Dan Ritchie. ASIC uses the MDP where it considers an infringement notice the most appropriate response as an alternative to civil penalty proceedings, with outcomes recorded on the MDP Outcomes Register; infringement notices can include a financial penalty of up to AUD 4.95 million per alleged contravention, remedial measures, sanctions and or terms of an enforceable undertaking.