(Reuters) -Australia's corporate regulator said on Wednesday it had started legal action against Macquarie Securities (Australia) (MSAL), accusing the firm of misleadingly reporting millions of short sales for over 14 years.

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) filed proceedings in the New South Wales Supreme Court, alleging that MSAL, owned by Macquarie Group ( MCQEF ), inaccurately reported short sales volumes by at least 73 million from December 11, 2009 to February 14, 2024, which could represent between 298 million and 1.5 billion short sales.

The regulator said the misleading conduct was due to multiple "systems-related issues."

Macquarie said in a statement that MSAL had identified the issues and self-reported them to the ASIC. It added that it is now reviewing ASIC's claim.

The lawsuit marks ASIC's fourth regulatory action against Macquarie Group ( MCQEF ) in just over a year.

"Our actions reflect the ongoing and deep concerns we have with Macquarie Group ( MCQEF ) and its weak remediation of long-standing issues," said ASIC Chair Joe Longo.

Back in April 2024, the regulator first took action against the group, after which the Federal Court of Australia fined Macquarie Bank A$10 million ($6.47 million) for its lack of controls to detect and prevent unauthorised fee transactions carried out by third parties.

This was followed by Australia's Markets Disciplinary Panel imposing an A$5 million fine on Macquarie Bank in September for failing to prevent suspicious orders being placed on the electricity futures market.

Earlier this month, the regulator imposed additional conditions on Macquarie Bank, citing numerous serious compliance failures.

In addition to penalties, ASIC said it was seeking an independent review and assurance of MSAL's regulatory reporting systems.

Shares of the company fell as much as 0.8%, as of 0030 GMT, compared to a 0.1% decline in the broader benchmark index.

($1 = 1.5449 Australian dollars)