The Federal Court has made declarations that Colonial First State Investments Limited (CFSIL), as trustee of the Colonial FirstChoice Fund, made false or misleading representations to members in relation to MySuper. CFSIL’s conduct was the subject of a case study by the Banking Royal Commission.
The Court declared that on at least 12,978 occasions, CFSIL made misleading representations regarding investment directions which may have encouraged members not to move to a MySuper product. The misleading or deceptive conduct included CFSIL telling members that legislative changes required them to obtain an investment direction to stay in the FirstChoice Fund when that was not the case. CFSIL also failed to tell members that if it did not receive an investment direction from the member, it was required to transfer the member’s contributions to a MySuper product. ASIC said CFSIL has consented to the Court’s declarations. A penalty hearing has been listed for 12 October 2021.
Source: ASIC media release 21-237MR, 8 September 2021
[Tax Month – September 2021] 3.10.21