In a public statement issued by ASIC, the corporate regulator said Asgard Independence Plan Division Two (Asgard Fund) members were also charged commissions via their premiums that were paid to financial advisers, even though the members had elected to have the financial adviser component removed from their account.

The court found BT Funds contravened both the Corporations Act and the ASIC Act. Westpac had made admissions on the matter, and the parties had agreed on a statement of facts.

The Federal Court also found BT Funds misrepresented to members in their periodic statements that proper deductions had been made, even though commissions were not permitted.

In handing down judgment, Justice Beach remarked that the misconduct was a result of systems and processing errors and an inadequate risk management framework.

He further stated that the inappropriate deduction of amounts based on false or misleading conduct “eroded the superannuation balances of affected members”.

Westpac has indicated it will pay more than $9.8 million in remediation to over 9,900 members by July 2022.

ASIC deputy chair Sarah Court said that over 9,000 Asgard Fund members “were incorrectly charged commission payments totalling more than $9 million”.

“This misconduct was caused by the failure to implement proper systems to ensure consumers are correctly charged,” said Ms Court.

The “insurance in super” matter was one of six civil penalty proceedings ASIC filed against Westpac in November 2021. This is the first matter to receive judgment.