The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has vowed to keep investigating the A$1 billion-plus collapse of the First Guardian and Shield master funds.
In a speech, Commissioner Alan Kirkland outlined the action ASIC had taken, including freezing assets, winding up companies, appointing receivers, preventing travel, banning financial advisers, and cancelling Australian Financial Services licenses.
He said the corporate regulator had 12 court cases underway against 21 defendants, including four super fund trustees, in connection with its investigations.
Defendants included Equity Trustees, Macquarie Investment Management, Diversa and Netwealth, Interprac Financial Planning and SQM Research.
“But we are far from done. There are more cases to come,” Kirkland said in a speech to the Professional Planner Advice Policy Summit in Canberra.
He said more than 11,000 ordinary people trying to set themselves up for retirement invested more than $1 billion in Shield and First Guardian.
“That’s why addressing the conduct that led to what we’ve seen there is one of ASIC’s biggest priorities,” he said.
Kirkland said when he spoke at the same event last year, he was limited in his remarks about ASIC’s work on the Shield Master Fund, but he hinted at the scale of work underway within ASIC.
“And hopefully, that picture is much clearer now, with the names Shield and First Guardian having now gained national notoriety,” he told the audience.
“And as our work on these matters has progressed, our determination to hold those responsible to account has only grown stronger."
The regulator had been liaising with investors and investor groups and working with the Australian Financial Complaints Authority and Super Consumers Australia to help investors understand what they could do, including potential pathways to compensation.
It had started sending information to investors, including access to a dedicated consumer support website and complaint options.
