A Victorian-based company and holder of an Australian Financial Services Licence that acted as trustee for a number of superannuation funds, Top Quartile Management Limited (TQM), has been convicted and fined in the Melbourne Magistrates Court on charges relating to breaches of the Corporations Act.
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) said TQM had been fined a total of $10,000 in relation to six charges for alleged breaches of the Act that occurred between August 2004 and August 2005.
At the time of the alleged offences, ASIC said TQM had been the trustee of a number of superannuation funds and was also operating investor directed portfolio services (IDPS). It said two of three IDPS products had funds under management that ranged in value from approximately $5 million to $37 million, with a combined total of at least 800 investors.
The regulator said three of the charges related to TQM’s failure to issue investors’ reports on time for three IDPS products they operated, with the remaining charges relating to TQM’s role as trustee of a number of superannuation funds.
It said TQM failed to report to ASIC breaches of its obligations to lodge annual returns on time with the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority for three superannuation funds of which it was trustee.
