Contracts

As anyone who has read Michael Lewis’ latest book, Flash Boys, will know there is a lot of money to be made and lost through high frequency trading (HFT). Whilst the Australian securities market is structured and regulated quite differently from the US market described by Lewis, there is no doubt that Australia has had its share of ‘colourful’ Flash Boys whose conduct has been challenged in the courts. One such individual is Mr Matthew Hurd, who was found (in late 2012) by the Federal Court of Australia (Justice Gordon) to have “set out on a covert course of conduct that was nothing more than a flagrant and deplorable attempt to appropriate benefits for himself which were properly those of his employer”. Mr Hurd’s saga has continued. On 28 May 2014 Justice Tracey of the Federal Court of Australia found that Mr Hurd and various corporate entities associated with Mr Hurd were in contempt of court because they had breached various court orders.