ASIC bans former director, manager of Macquarie Agricultural Funds Management

ASIC has banned Mr Timothy Hornibrook formerly a director and responsible manager of Australian financial services licensee, Macquarie Agricultural Funds Management Ltd (MAFML), from providing financial services for a period of six years.

ASIC found he contravened financial services laws whilst he was a director and responsible manager.

In a statement ASIC said in early 2011, Mr Hornibrook, a former co-Head and Head of Macquarie Agricultural Funds Management (MAFM), along with some members of the MAFM sales team conceived the concept of a fake family office, named the Brook Family Office (BFO).

The sales team then used two email addresses for the BFO to extract confidential information from MAFML's competitors in the agricultural investment sector on the pretence that it was assessing potential investment opportunities for its funds under management, according to ASIC.

ASIC found that Mr Hornibrook had breached his duties as an officer of a responsible entity of a registered managed investment scheme by:

• failing to act honestly;
• misusing the information he acquired as a director of MAFML in order to gain an improper advantage for himself, MAFML and/or Macquarie Crop Partners LP (MCP); and
• misusing his position as director of MAFML to gain an advantage for MAFML and/or MCP.

ASIC Commissioner Greg Tanzer said the deceptive conduct of Mr Hornibrook was not inadvertent nor was it the result of a momentary lapse.

"It was committed over a number of years and was intended to gain an advantage for himself and the Macquarie business for which he was responsible," he said.

Mr Hornibrook has the right to appeal to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal for a review of ASIC's decision.

ASIC's investigations are ongoing.