Chatfield appears in court

General manager of Aviva Corporation Perth, Mark Chatfield, has briefly appeared in court to face allegations of insider trading.

Mr Chatfield, who was the former head of Queensland electricity company CS Energy Ltd was summonsed to appear in Brisbane Magistrates Court following a lengthy investigation by the Australian Securities and Investment Commission.

Mr Chatfield is charged with dishonestly using his knowledge of CS Energy Limited's business dealings for personal gain while he was chief executive of CS Energy.

ASIC alleges that in January last year, Mr Chatfield applied for 60,000 shares in the float of Perth-based PearlStreet Ltd at a time when he knew the board of CS Energy had resolved to enter into a contract with PearlStreet.

The shares, valued at $30,000, were purchased by Mr Chatfield just a couple of months before the two companies announced a five year, $2.8 million contract relating to the testing of power stations.

Chatfield stood down as head of CS Energy Limited in May last year.

The matter was immediately adjourned today until August 1.