Opes Prime clashed with ANZ over lending deal
The comment was made at the trial of Mr Smith. Opes Prime, a securities lender and broker, which had more than 650 clients, collapsed in March 2008, owing creditors $631 million.
The ANZ head of lending services for corporate banking, Ben Steinberg, said Mr Smith had expressed doubt that anyone in the market would accept proposed changes to the way the bank determined who owed what to whom once a lending agreement ended.
The changes meant shares lodged by Opes with the bank would be valued at the price they could be sold for, rather than their last closing price.
Mr Steinberg told the Victorian Supreme Court on Monday he decided to respond to Mr Smith's "aggression" by telling him in a March 2008 meeting that ANZ had the option of no longer receiving stock from Opes.
"Mr Smith then indicated that he hadn't not agreed to anything, so there was a slight change in Mr Smith's attitude, and he again suggested he would take - or he suggested then that he would take our proposals, once we put them in writing, to ... Opes Prime for consideration," Mr Steinberg said.
The prosecution says as Opes Prime teetered on the brink of collapse, Mr Smith wrongly pledged assets in order to secure a loan from ANZ to Leveraged Capital, a company associated with Mr Smith and Opes CEO Lirim "Laurie" Emini.
The trial continues.
Frequently Asked Questions about this Article…
The dispute centered on proposed changes to the ANZ lending agreement with Opes Prime. ANZ wanted shares lodged as collateral to be valued at the price they could be sold for rather than their last closing price, and former Opes Prime director Julian Smith told the court that "no one in their right mind" would agree to those changes.
Under ANZ's proposed change, shares lodged with the bank as collateral would be valued based on the price they could be sold for at the end of the agreement, rather than using the shares' last closing price. The article reports that this was the specific valuation change at issue in the negotiations between ANZ and Opes Prime.
Julian Smith is a former director of Opes Prime. The prosecution alleges that, as Opes Prime neared collapse, Smith wrongly pledged assets in order to secure a loan from ANZ to Leveraged Capital, a company associated with Smith and Opes Prime CEO Lirim "Laurie" Emini. The matter was being heard at trial.
Ben Steinberg, ANZ's head of lending services for corporate banking, gave evidence in the Victorian Supreme Court. He described discussions with Julian Smith in March 2008, including telling Smith that ANZ could choose not to receive stock from Opes Prime and recounting Smith's response about considering written proposals.
Opes Prime was a securities lender and broker with more than 650 clients. The firm collapsed in March 2008 and, according to the article, owed creditors $631 million.
Yes. According to ANZ's Ben Steinberg in court, he told Julian Smith in a March 2008 meeting that ANZ had the option of no longer receiving stock from Opes Prime as part of the response to the talks over the lending agreement.
The article states that Leveraged Capital is a company associated with Julian Smith and Opes Prime CEO Lirim "Laurie" Emini. The prosecution alleges that assets were wrongly pledged to secure a loan from ANZ to Leveraged Capital as Opes Prime was nearing collapse.
The court evidence highlights how disputes over lending agreement terms—especially how collateral is valued—and the pledging of assets can be central in a broker's failure. The Opes Prime collapse, which left creditors owed $631 million, underlines why investors should understand margin-lending terms, collateral valuation rules, and counterparty risk when dealing with brokers and securities lenders.
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