EL&C Baillieu may have promised a potential client favourable allocations in share market floats, protection from rules requiring the client to disclose sensitive financial information, and a way to minimise tax by routing investments through New Zealand.

Several anonymous emails sent to the mid-size Melbourne stockbroker's chairman, Jo Dawson, over the past week allegedly contain recordings of separate conversations with a potential investor and Baillieu's head of corporate finance, Stephen Macaw, and his brother, Scott Macaw, describing how the firm structures clients' investments and conducts share sales.