Fund Regulatory Update

Capital Investment Partners AFS licence cancelled

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has cancelled the Australian financial services (AFS) licence of Capital Investment Partners Pty Ltd. The company is no longer carrying on a financial services business.

AustralianSuper refunding $70 million from duplicate accounts

100,000 AustralianSuper members are to be refunded $70 million after it was discovered the members had multiple accounts and were being charged fees on both accounts. AustralianSuper is aiming to ensure these members are in the same position they should have been if the accounts had been consolidated as they should have.

Class action against IG Markets in CFD trading

A class action has been filed against IG Markets by Piper Alderman and Omni Bridgeway, alleging that investors lost $800 million trading contracts for difference (CFDs). Around 20,000 investors may have been affected, with the law firms claiming IG Markets failed to assess investor objectives and financial situations properly and didn’t adequately disclose the risks of CFDs until new ASIC guidelines were introduced in March 2021.

The claim alleges the company was marketing and allowing trades of complex CFDs to inexperienced investors. Hundreds of investors have already registered.

Ord Minnet fined $880,000 for buy-back blunder

Ord Minnet has paid an infringement notice given by the Markets Disciplinary Panel (MDP) in relation to instructions for a buy-back on behalf of AWN Holdings Ltd. Ord Minnet was thought to have inadvertently contravened market integrity rules twice during the buy-back but failed to investigate the question of crossings in a buy-back.

The MDP found Ord Minnet to have failed to recognise the contraventions or implement any changes to systems for future prevention of these issues.