JOHN Gay, former executive chairman of listed Tasmanian timber company Gunns, appeared in the Launceston Magistrates Court this morning to face two charges of insider trading.

The Australian Investments and Securities Commission alleges Mr Gay had insider knowledge of the company's financial affairs, which was not know to the general public when he sold 3.4 million shares in December 2009.

The shares were sold two months before Gunns released its disappointing half-year financial report in February, which forecast a 98 per cent plunge in profits.

ASIC claims Mr Gay sold shares between December 2 and December 7 in 2009 for between 88 cents and 92c each. The disposals were valued at more than $3 million.

Shares in Gunns fell considerably the following February on the profit downgrade, averaging a 20c drop in price for each share.

Mr Gay stood down as Gunns's chairman in May last year.

--

Read more at: theaustralian.com.au

This incident may well serve as a reminder of the importance of regularly training staff - at all levels - about corporate ethics and behaviours. Doing so may help remind all staff of their obligations – which, at the very least, may help minimise the spread of corrupt behaviour or help bring it to light earlier. PolicyPoint is the easy-to-use engine for ensuring all staff – from board level down – are aware of, and understand the policies and procedures you need them to know

12.00 Normal 0 false false false EN-AU X-NONE X-NONE /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;}