Overview
- ASIC lodged three Federal Court actions targeting InterPrac, SQM Research and MWL over their roles in the Shield and First Guardian schemes.
- InterPrac is accused of “industrial-scale misconduct,” with 6,843 clients steered into about $677 million of investments and portfolio switches enabled via “negative consent.”
- ASIC’s case against SQM claims the research house improperly issued a positive rating for the Shield Master Fund without adequate information, its first action against a research firm.
- The MWL case alleges advice that put 556 clients into roughly $114 million of Shield investments, with ASIC seeking court leave to proceed as MWL is in administration and alleging lead generator Imperial Capital took nearly $13 million in commissions.
- Sequoia, InterPrac’s parent, fell about 12% before a trading pause after the filing, while ASIC continues a large-scale probe that follows Macquarie’s earlier $321 million compensation for Shield investors.