Macquarie share trading probe
MACQUARIE Group chief executives are expected to be interviewed by German police over the bank’s involvement in a share trading case.
In a statement to the ASX yesterday, Macquarie said Nicholas Moore and incoming CEO Shemara Wikramanayake were likely to be “persons of interest or suspects” in the investigation.
Macquarie lent funds in 2011 to a group of investment funds seeking to obtain benefits for investors from dividend withholding tax credits.
The transactions are being investigated by the Cologne Prosecutor’s Office.
Macquarie Group’s shares fell 1.3 per cent to $126.04 yesterday after news broke about the German probe. NINTENDO says it has won a court battle against a popular go-kart operator that lets drivers dressed as Super Mario and other game characters zip through the streets of Japan.
Visitors to Tokyo and other major Japanese cities are often stunned to see convoys of karts, with the drivers — usually tourists — donning costumes of Mario, Yoshi, Princess Peach and other Nintendo characters.
Japan has no ban on driving go-karts on public roads, but the court ruling looks set to halt such antics.
The video game giant said the ruling blocked the MariCAR go-kart service from lending Mario and other costumes to customers.
Nintendo said its popular Mario Kart game was known widely as “MariKar”, like the go-kart service’s name.
Nintendo said it also won damages but did not discuss the amount.
Go-kart operator Mari Mobility, which has changed its official name from MariCar, said it would review the ruling before deciding on its next move.
Its website tells customers not to race one another, nor throw banana peels or red turtle shells, which you can do in Nintendo’s game.