The fines were imposed by the Federal Court after the Australian Securities and Investments Commission took action over the company’s breach of continuous disclosure obligations.

The company failed to disclose in 2018 that an announcement relating to the term sheet for an offtake agreement of cobalt and nickel from Sconi included a 15 per cent discount. It also failed to disclose that true status of funding for the project after Bell “falsely claimed at investor conferences in Hong Kong and London” that secured $500 million in funding for the project “when, in fact, no funding had been secured”.

Bell also told the conferences that the value of the funding agreement with SK Innovation was $5 billion when, in fact, there was a 15 per cent buyer’s discount.

Bell subsequently resigned from his position.

ASIC commissioner Sean Hughes said the outcome reinforced how fundamental the continuous disclosure regime was in ensuring Australia’s financial markets were well informed and fair.

“The outcome is a timely reminder for ASX listed companies attending overseas conferences that compliance with the law is expected and enforceable,” he said.