Who is XQZT? And why has his or her name and every other detail of his or her case been suppressed by the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) after he or she was banned in July by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC)?

Last week ASIC launched an action asking for the full Federal Court to overturn the tribunal’s ability to ignore the regulator’s statutory duty to publicise its enforcement activities.

AAT Deputy President Robin Handley applied the “XQZT” pseudonym last month when he accepted publicity could harm the reputation of the individual and granted a stay of the ASIC disqualification pending a review.

Mr Handley also banned publication anywhere of any details at all. The case has attracted considerable attention in legal circles, and is expected to clear up several legal anomalies that have arisen through earlier Federal Court decisions.

The Federal Court has not yet responded to ASIC’s appeal for it to hear the case before the AAT conducts its review of the disqualification.