Former Trio director out of super for four years

A former non-executive director of Trio Capital and the person responsible for five registered superannuation entities has entered into an enforceable undertaking imposed by the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA).

The enforceable undertaking will see her remaining out of the superannuation industry for a period of up to four years.

The regulator announced today that the woman, Natasha Beck, had acknowledged APRA’s concerns that she had failed to carry out her duties properly as director of a superannuation trustee.

It said Beck was a non-executive director of Trio from June 2008 until Trio’s collapse in December, 2009 and that Trio was formerly the licensed trustee of five registered superannuation entities as well as the responsible entity for 24 managed investment schemes, including the Astarra Strategic Fund – a fund of hedge funds.

The APRA announcement said Beck had acknowledged that, having regard to the nature and extent of APRA’s concerns, an appropriate period of disqualification to not act as a trustee or as a responsible officer of a body corporate that is a trustee, investment manager or custodian of an APRA-regulated superannuation entity would be five years.

However, the announcement said that as Beck had sought to resolve APRA’s concerns at an early stage and had agreed to assist its investigation, the regulator had agreed to accept her undertaking to remain out of the superannuation industry for a period of four years – with a potential reduction to two years subject to her assistance with further aspects of the investigation.