Man for trial on insider trading countsJesse HoganApril 14,...

Man for trial on insider trading counts
Jesse Hogan
April 14, 2007
A MELBOURNE man accused of leaking embargoed company news to a share traders website will face trial for insider trading.

Peter Robert Woodland, of Frankston, was charged with 17 counts of insider trading last year by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission after a tip-off by the recently renamed Australian Securities Exchange.

Woodland is accused of illegally trading shares of a Western Australian mining company, Andean Resources, five times between November and December 2003, just before an announcement that the company had taken over a goldmine in Chile.

The other 12 counts relate to comments he allegedly posted on the HotCopper trading website about the company ? at that stage called Kanowna Consolidated Gold Mines ? which ASIC considered to be "communicating inside information to others at a time when it was not generally available to the public".

The ASX regularly monitors shares-focused internet discussion boards for potential breaches of securities laws, which require listed companies to ensure news that might influence its share price be available to all market watchers.

Woodland pleaded not guilty in the Melbourne Magistrates Court this week to all 17 charges and was bailed to face trial in the County Court on June 21.

Anyone found guilty of insider trading can be fined up to $220,000 and sentenced to up to five years' jail for every count.

HotCopper promotes itself as a forum for discussing listed Australian companies but warns participants of legal action if comments breach securities laws.