Australia’s corporate watchdog is suing AustralianSuper, the nation’s largest pension fund, alleging that it charged members fees on multiple accounts that should have instead been merged.
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission alleges the fund failed to identify members with multiple accounts over ten years through March 2023, affecting about 90,000 people and costing them around A$69 million, it said in a statement Friday. Court documents allege the fund didn’t ensure its financial services were “provided efficiently, honestly and fairly.”
ASIC alleges the A$300 billion fund became aware of the issue in 2018, but failed to start adequately addressing the issue until late last year. The case is the first of its kind pursued by ASIC, which has previously sued two pension funds over greenwashing, which falls under a different section of Australian law.
“This should not have happened, and we apologise unreservedly to members,” AustralianSuper said in a statement, adding that it has implemented a remediation program for members.
