ASIC obtains interim orders against managed fund
ASIC has obtained interim orders from the Federal Court to freeze the assets of a managed fund in order to protect investor funds during an ongoing investigation.
The court froze the assets of Shield Master Fund, a managed fund whose responsible entity (RE) is Keystone Asset Management, to help protect investor funds while an investigation is continuing.
ASIC had previously made interim stop orders on 7 February to stop Keystone from offering, issuing, selling or transferring interests in the Balanced class, Growth class, High Growth class and Conservative class units of the fund.
These stop orders were subsequently revoked on 9 April following a notice from Keystone that the funds were no longer available to new clients.
On 18 June, Justice O’Callaghan ordered that Keystone is restrained from:
- Removing property from Australia,
- Selling, charging, mortgaging, dealing with or disposing of property,
- Incurring new liabilities, or
- Withdrawing, transferring, disposing of, or dealing with money held in bank accounts or with a financial institution (subject to limited exceptions).
The court made orders that Paul Chiodo, a former director of Keystone, surrender his passport and be restrained from leaving Australia. ASIC sought these orders to ensure Chiodo, as a former director of Keystone, remains in Australia while ASIC continues its investigation.
As the hearing was held in their absence, Keystone and Chiodo have not yet had the opportunity to respond to ASIC’s application.
A further court hearing is listed to take place on Tuesday, 25 June 2024.
AUTHOR
Laura Dew
Recommended for you
Six months after scrapping its planned deal with KKR, Perpetual is yet to make significant headway on the sale of its wealth management division but is focusing on alternatives for product development.
Platinum Asset Management’s NPAT has fallen by 89 per cent in FY25, with the firm confirming that it will be renamed as L1 Group following the expected completion of its merger with L1 Capital.
Statutory NPAT at Pacific Current has almost halved in FY25 to $58.2 million as the result of an investment restructure.
Being able to provide certainty about redemptions is worth fund managers pursuing when targeting the retail market even if it means sacrificing returns, according to Federation Asset Management.
