Menzies and Australian Securities and Investments Commission

This matter concerned an application by Mr Menzies for a stay of a banning order made by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC). The dispute arose from ASIC's decision to ban Mr Menzies from providing financial services, which he sought to have reviewed. The application for a stay was heard by Senior Member Egon Fice of the Tribunal.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was whether the operation and implementation of ASIC's banning order should be stayed pending the final determination of Mr Menzies' application for review. This involved considering whether the review application would be rendered nugatory if the stay were not granted, and assessing the consequences for Mr Menzies if the order remained in effect.

The Tribunal considered Mr Menzies' submission that his professional skills were confined to financial services and that he had already experienced significant financial detriment. It was accepted that if Mr Menzies were unable to continue providing financial services to his existing clients, his business would likely be lost, and its resurrection after a period of 6 to 12 months, even if successful in the substantive review, would be doubtful. Consequently, the Tribunal decided to grant a stay of the banning order, subject to specific conditions.

The Tribunal ordered that the operation and implementation of ASIC's decision dated 13 July 2016 be stayed pending the hearing and final determination of the matter. These conditions included that Mr Menzies not engage in trading warrants of any kind, only engage in trading equities, equity options, and debt instruments, and only provide financial services to the existing clients of Menzies Securities as listed in his affidavit.