Theta AM to pay $2m penalty
Liquidated Theta Asset Management and its managing director Robert Marie has been found to have contravened the Corporations Act by issuing five defective product disclosure statements (PDSs) for the Sterling Income Trust.
The Federal Court in Western Australia ordered Theta to pay a penalty of $2 million and Marie to pay a penalty of $100,000. The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) said it would not seek recovery of the penalty against Theta as doing so would decrease the funds available for distribution by the liquidator of Theta to its creditors.
Marie was also disqualified for four years from managing corporations after contravening the Corporations Act and failing to comply with duties as a managing director of Theta.
In handing down his judgement Justice McKerracher said the circumstances “involved catastrophic losses sustained by investors”.
Between 20 May, 2016, to 30 April, 2018, $16,749,974 was raised from retail investors pursuant to the defective PDSs.
Recommended for you
With regional and rural suburbs exhibiting high spare capacity to invest, Money Management speaks to three regional advisers on the opportunities beyond the major cities and the importance of a strong network.
Platform consolidation is expected to accelerate among financial advisers this year, as software company Finura pinpoints which two platforms are set to be the winners, thanks to this trend.
The software provider has made several appointments in its APAC wealth propositions team, with a focus on driving growth across digital advice, Xplan and strategic partnerships.
The platform has announced it plans to close its Xplore managed discretionary account service in 2026 which holds $2 billion in funds under administration.
