Guilty pleas entered in $7 million NAB insider trading case; Ray White expands into SMSF financial advice market: Midday Roundup

The two men at the centre of the $7 million NAB and Australian Bureau of Statistics insider trading case have pleaded guilty to charges in the Melbourne Magistrates Court.

Fairfax reports former NAB employee Lukas Kamay pleaded guilty to charges relating to insider trading and conspiracy, but entered a not guilty plea in response to money laundering allegations.

Christopher Hill, a former ABS employee, also pleaded guilty to insider trading and conspiracy charges.

The pair were arrested in May after foreign exchange broker Pepperstone blew the whistle on trades by Kamas on the Australian dollar which police allege were based on information provided by Hill.

Kamay and Hill are due to appear in the Victorian Supreme Court on October 1.

Ray White expands into SMSF financial advice market

Real estate company and mortgage broker Ray White has announced plans to cash in on the growing popularity of self-managed superannuation funds by adding financial advice to its list of services.

Fairfax reports the new company will be called Wealth Market and will act as a subsidiary of mortgage products and insurance company Loan Market, which is a partner company of Ray White owned by the White family.

Loan Market already has offices in each capital city, employing around 1000 brokers who write around about $1 billion worth of mortgages each month.

“We’ve got clean hands after 110 years – there aren’t a lot in property who haven’t had a scandal,” Ray White Group chairman Brian White said.

Shares down on open

Aussie shares have opened lower this morning, despite a positive lead from Wall Street overnight.

However, CMC Markets chief market analyst Ric Spooner said the market is set for a rally today after losing nearly 3% over the past 3 days.

“The improved sentiment will be driven by 3 factors – a market rethink on the probability of the Federal Reserve moving to a clear rate tightening bias in the current meeting; news of monetary stimulus by China’s central bank and improved polling for the No Vote on Scottish secession,” Spooner said.

The S&P/ASX200 index was down 22.2 points, or 0.4%, to 5423.2 points at 12.11 AEST. On Tuesday, the Dow Jones closed 100.83 points higher, up 0.59% to 17132 points.