ASIC alleges that there was limited monitoring by Macquarie of transactions made through its bulk transaction system using a ‘fee authority’ and that these transactions did not pass through a fraud monitoring system or undergo manual checks to confirm the transactions were for fees.

It alleges that the impact on Macquarie’s customers includes $2.9 million in unauthorised withdrawals from SMSF accounts by now convicted former financial adviser, Ross Andrew Hopkins.

In a statement issued this week by the bank, Macquarie stated that it has cooperated with ASIC’s investigation into this matter.

“Macquarie notes the Federal Court proceedings filed by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission in relation to the Cash Management Account (CMA) third party fee authority,” it stated.

“ASIC’s court filing notes that this issue arose in relation to 13 clients of an independent financial adviser between 2016 and 2019, who has since pleaded guilty to fraud.”

Macquarie stated that following the independent adviser’s failure to compensate his clients for their losses, Macquarie fully reimbursed the 13 clients. 

“Macquarie treats the security of its clients’ accounts with the utmost seriousness, and has continued to introduce new controls and processes to respond to the evolving external fraud environment,” the bank stated.