Plexure says person charged with insider trading was a contractor who left in 2014

Thursday 12th October 2017

Plexure Group, the mobile voucher firm formerly called VMob, has distanced itself from a person charged with insider trading in its shares, saying they were a contractor who left in 2014.

The Financial Markets Authority yesterday said it has filed criminal charges under the Securities Markets Act in the Auckland District Court against a person for insider trading failing to disclose interests in VMob shares. The FMA said the person used to hold a senior role at Plexure, which had cooperated with the investigation and wasn't part of the probe.

Today, Plexure chairman Phil Norman said the company fully supports the FMA's role in ensuring the integrity of the capital markets.

Plexure "was disappointed to learn that the contractor, who’s consultancy finished in December 2014, was allegedly involved," Norman said in a statement.

The charges were under legislation pre-dating the current Financial Markets Conduct Act because the issues took place in July 2014, the FMA said.

At the time, Plexure was listed on the NZX's small-cap Alternative Market, which it joined in 2012 via a backdoor listing. The shares plunged as much as 78 percent between January 2014 and July 2014, before spiking up 25 percent in one day after announcing McDonald's Corp would use its mobile voucher platform for its 3,200 restaurants in Japan.

The shares last traded at 10 cents and have dropped 69 percent this year.

(BusinessDesk)

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