Morgans Financial slapped with new conditions by ASIC

Morgans Financial has been hit by new rules from the Australian Securities & Investments Commission (ASIC), following concerns over Morgan's arrangements for monitoring its representatives after "serious breach incidents" in recent years. ASIC also raised concerns over the stockbroker's internal controls for handling confidential market-sensitive information in relation to corporate transactions. Morgans has agreed to appoint an independent compliance officer to examine its compliance measures and recommend improvements where required.

Morgans Financial has been slapped with tougher licence conditions after the corporate regulator found a string of problems at the broker, outlining concerns about its internal controls including the handling of confidential information.

In a statement on Monday, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission said it "identified concerns relating to Morgans' arrangements for monitoring and supervising its representatives" after "serious breach incidents" in recent years.

There were problems with the way Morgans handled market-sensitive information, regulators have found. Credit: Jim Rice

ASIC said its surveillance uncovered problems with Morgans' internal controls – including the way it handled confidential market-sensitive information, restrictions on staff trading and managing conflicts of interest in corporate transactions.

"ASIC expects market participants to have detailed guidance for staff in these circumstances to mitigate against the risk of insider trading and conflicts of interests for staff," the corporate regulator said in the statement.