Year
2018
Category
All Media: Business Journalism
Jonathan Shapiro’s investigation exposed the partnership of stock market darling Big Un, where a finance company was advancing funds in a manner that appeared to be sales. The story questioned the failure of the stock exchange and the corporate regulator to detect Big Un’s actions. If it weren’t for Shapiro’s story, millions of dollars of super funds would have flowed to the company when it was on the verge of being added to a major stock market index. Meanwhile, thousands of mum and dad investors were left devastated. The Australian Securities Exchange has now tightened its listing rules to ensure that directors and executives are adequately scrutinised.
Jonathan Shapiro is a senior journalist for The Australian Financial Review in Sydney, where he has covered financial markets, the economy and investments since 2009. In 2016 he was joint winner of the Citi Journalism Award for Excellence, in recognition of excellence in business and finance journalism. This is his first Walkley.
Judges’ comments:
“Jonathan Shapiro’s painstaking investigation into Big Un drew on multiple sources to stitch together a colourful exposé of a wild accounting scam and a businessman’s criminal past. The revelations led the Australian Securities Exchange to tighten its listing and disclosure rules, and sent the former stock market darling into administration.”