Another name suppression bid has been made by the person facing insider trading charges in relation to Pushpay shares.
The person has pleaded not guilty to the charges brought by the Financial Markets Authority.
The name suppression hearing was heard in the high court of Auckland today before Justice Gerard van Bohemen, with the defendant wanting to be granted name suppression until the case goes to trial.
The defendant didn’t make an appearance at the half-day hearing but was represented by their counsel, John Dixon, KC.
Crown solicitor Brian Dickey appeared for the Financial Markets Authority (FMA) alongside litigator and crown prosecutor David Wiseman.
Justice van Bohemen told the media at the beginning of the hearing that they wouldn’t be allowed to report arguments from the prosecution or the defence.
Media would have to wait until he’d made his decision on what hearing material they were allowed to publish, he said.
Dixon told the court that the defence planned to appeal any decision that rejected the defendant’s name suppression.
The defendant has been accused of encouraging another person to sell Pushpay shares based on inside information.
The FMA filed a criminal charge against the defendant and a civil claim against both people in the high court of Auckland in February.
The criminal charge carries a maximum penalty of five years in jail and a fine of up to $500,000, while civil penalties can be three times the gain made or loss avoided, and $1 million for an individual or $5m for an entity.
Pushpay has said its conduct hasn’t been investigated by the FMA, with the church management software company cooperating with the regulator during its probe.
The alleged insider trading was referred to the FMA by the NZX's regulatory branch in July 2018.
