Henry FMA strikeout bid stalls

Brian Henry, now linked with Arria, resigned as a director and CEO of Diligent the day after its listing. The Financial Markets Authority has filed civil proceedings against him.

Brian Peter Henry's bid for the High Court to throw out allegations he manipulated Diligent Board Member Services shares is not going ahead today and his lawyer said it is still to be decided if the application will continue at another date.

The Financial Markets Authority has filed civil proceedings against Brian Peter Henry for alleged involvement in the manipulation of Diligent shares.

Henry was one of Diligent's founders and he resigned as chief executive just two days after it listed on the NZX.

The FMA says Henry left the company in 2009.

The regulator's proceedings contain six claims alleging certain orders and trades made by Henry in 2010 breached the market manipulation provisions of the Securities Markets Act.

An application from Henry to strike out the FMA's claim was scheduled to take place in the High Court at Auckland today but this hearing has now been vacated.

The Queen's Counsel representing Henry, John Billington, said it was still to be decided whether the strike out application would happen at a future date.

The FMA's case against Henry, who is defending the claim, is due to be heard across two weeks in September.

When the proceedings were announced last year, New York-based Henry dismissed the FMA's claim as having "no merit".

The maximum fine for breaching the market manipulation provisions of the Securities Markets Act is $1,000,000 for each contravention.