Australian stockbroker Opes Prime in receivership

MELBOURNE, March 28 (Reuters) - Australia's Opes Prime Stockbroking Ltd has been placed in receivership and is being investigated after irregularities were found with some accounts, receivers Deloitte said on Friday.

Deloitte said it was appointed by secured creditor ANZ Banking Group Ltd (ANZ.AX) and has frozen all client accounts. Ferrier Hodgson has been appointed as administrator.

"The (Opes) directors appointed Ferrier Hodgson as voluntary administrator when they became aware of a number of cash and stock movement irregularities in relation to a small number of accounts," Deloitte said in a statement.

Opes Prime, which employs 70 people, says on its Web site its clients include major banks, asset managers and stockbrokers. It is part of the unlisted Opes Prime Group.

The Australian newspaper said recently the broker's securities lending book is valued at more than A$1 billion ($920 million). Opes Prime says on its Web site that securities lending is an alternative to short-selling stocks, "with similar benefits but fewer restrictions".

In a separate statement, the Australian Securities Exchange said it has suspended Opes Prime's trading rights.

It said outstanding trades of less than A$5 million were due to be settled on Friday, Monday and Tuesday, and clearing house Berndale Securities would meet obligations for the outstanding trades.

The corporate watchdog, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, said on its Web site it began an investigation of Opus Prime on Friday to look for any potential breaches of the corporations law. The ANZ said its lending exposure to Opes Prime was backed by security in a portfolio of Australian equities, which was sufficient to cover the amount outstanding.

"ANZ believes that based on an orderly realisation of the security portfolio, it is unlikely to incur a material loss on this exposure," the bank said. ($1=A$1.09) (Reporting by Victoria Thieberger; Editing by James Thornhill)