The former director and responsible manager of a Macquarie subsidiary has been penalised from providing financial services for a period of six years.

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission has banned Timothy Hornibrook finding that he had breached his duties as an officer of a responsible entity of a registered managed investment scheme.

Hornibrook, formerly a director and responsible manager of Australian financial services licensee, Macquarie Agricultural Funds Management (MAFML), was banned after ASIC found that he contravened financial services laws whilst he was a director and responsible manager.

Bogus Family Office

In early 2011, Timothy 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.

ASIC found that 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)
  • misusing his position as director of MAFML to gain an advantage for MAFML and/or MCP.

Gaining an Advantage

The ASIC delegate said Hornibrook's conduct was 'extremely serious, that he was in a position of responsibility and that general deterrence is an important factor in this case.'

«The deceptive conduct of 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,» said ASIC Commissioner Greg Tanzer.

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