Prosecutor Brian Dickey, the Auckland Crown Solicitor, did not oppose the interim suppression order but said he was conceding only an arguable case for the defendants and indicating he would "almost certainly oppose" both applications when they were addressed at a separate, later, hearing.
Judge John Bergsen remanded the individual on bail, with a case review hearing next scheduled for June 22.
Pushpay, listed on the NZX, is a donor management system for churches and charities operating in the US and has seen strong growth in the past few years - pushing its market capitalisation past $1b - as pandemic restrictions forced many religious organisations to digitise their collection plates.
In June 2018 the company announced co-founder and director Eliot Crowther had resigned and sold down his $100m shareholding in the firm. The trades considered suspect by the FMA occurred in the month prior to this announcement.
Crowther's trading was legitimate and he is not a party to the proceedings, the FMA said.
The matter was referred to the FMA by NZX Regulation, the frontline regulator of the New Zealand stock market now called NZ RegCo, in July 2018.
The FMA said Pushpay, which has targeted US churches with technology that makes it easier for congregations to make donations and has offices in Auckland, Seattle and Colorado Springs, has co-operated and has not been the subject of its investigation. The company is also not a party to any legal proceeding.
Insider trading prosecutions are rare and the Pushpay case is the largest in New Zealand history by the value of shares traded.
In 2018 the first insider trading trial in New Zealand's legal history ended with Hamish Sansom, a former executive of transport and technology company Eroad, being found not guilty.
His acquittal came at a retrial after the first trial ended in a hung jury.
Sansom was charged by the FMA after selling 15,000 Eroad shares for about $50,000 just days before its stock price plummeted.
The criminal charge attracts a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a fine of up to $500,000. Civil penalties can be calculated at three times the gain made or loss avoided through the use of inside information.