Former New Talisman Gold Mines CEO Matthew Hill admits false statements, settles case with FMA

Former New Talisman Gold Mines Limited chief executive Matthew Hill admitted to breaching section 22(d) of the Financial Markets Conduct Act 2013.

Matthew Hill, the former chief executive of NZX-listed New Talisman Gold Mines Limited, has admitted making false and misleading representations on a sharemarket chatroom, in breach of the Financial Markets Conduct Act.

The case relates to anonymous posts the Financial Markets Authority (FMA) alleged Hill had made about the company on the Sharetrader website’s online investor forum.

The FMA filed civil proceedings against Hill in August 2021.

Hill admitted to breaching section 22(d) of the Financial Markets Conduct Act 2013.

The parties have asked the Court to convene an agreed penalty hearing at the High Court in Auckland. The FMA will no longer pursue aspects of the original proceeding relating to market manipulation.

New Talisman Gold was not party to the proceedings.

The Herald reported in July 2020 that the FMA was looking into a complaint that the chief executive of an NZX-listed firm had been commenting about the company anonymously in the Sharetrader internet chatroom. According to the website’s administrator at that time, Hill had been banned from the chatroom for not declaring his position with the company.

The administrator of the popular investment web forum alleged Hill had been commenting under pseudonyms “Bullish” and “Epithermal” for several years.

Sharetrader, which has been going for more than 20 years, can attract up to 30,000 visitors a day.

In October 2021, New Talisman Gold Mines gave notice of Hill’s termination as CEO. Hill had already resigned from the company’s board earlier that week.