Andrew Forrest is in danger of losing the management grip on Fortescue Metals Group (FMG), a mining firm he founded that now holds the distinction as the third biggest exporter of iron ore from Australia.

According to Bloomberg, the Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) successfully convinced the Australian Appeals Court to overturn an earlier court decision that cleared Mr Forrest of any wrongdoing when in 2004 he disclosed that FMG had binding deals with Chinese firms that would ramp up FMG's iron ore operations in Western Australia.

Media reports showed that Mr Forrest issued the announcement August 2004, which Bloomberg said resulted to significant spikes on FMG shares.

But the surge would not last for long as the Australian Financial Review reported on March the year after that one of the Chinese partners, China Metallurgical Construction Group, appeared to have backed out from the deal.

Almost immediately, FMG stocks plummeted by up to 25 per cent in the aftermath of the AFR revelation, which the ASIC said was a clear case of regulatory violation.

ASIC added that Forrest had presented the wrong facts to FMG shareholders when he inadvertently declared that the crucial deal was virtually in the bag.

Mr Forrest, however, argued before the appeals court that what he did in 2004 was a business judgement executed in good faith and fully allowed by Australian laws.

Lawyers for Mr Forrest presented an email dated Oct 4 2004, which stated: "It is at this stage non-binding, but is intended to become binding on the 20th of this month at a signing ceremony in Beijing."

While the correspondence indicated that the deal was not finalised, Mr Forrest's lawyers told the court that the FMG owner had firmly believed his Chinese partners would through with the agreements at that time.

The three-judge panel, however, disagreed with Mr Forrest and reminded him that exercising business judgement was not a solid alibi to mislead shareholders on the true state of pending corporate deals.

In its decision, the appeals court stressed that a person had undertaken "all steps that were reasonable to ensure compliance with the entity's disclosure obligations."

"Forrest was unable to point to any steps he took to ensure that the agreements were binding," the panel wrote," panel said as reported by Bloomberg.

Mr Forrest is appealing the decision before the Australian High Court, which will begin hearing the case on Wednesday.

The mining billionaire could be stripped of his right to further manage FMG in the event that the High Court will sustain the appeals court ruling, experts said.