AustralianSuper Fined $17.3 Million for Failing to Merge Duplicate Accounts
AustralianSuper, Australia's largest pension fund, was fined A$27 million ($17.3 million) after failing to identify and merge duplicate member accounts over a ten-year period.
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) found that AustralianSuper, which manages A$365 billion in assets for over 3.5 million members, did not implement adequate procedures to detect and consolidate around 90,700 duplicate accounts between July 2013 and March 2023.
The oversight resulted in approximately A$69 million in losses for affected members, who incurred multiple administration fees and insurance premiums.
In response to the penalty, AustralianSuper CEO Paul Schroder stated, "We acknowledged our mistake, apologized to impacted members, compensated them, and have enhanced our processes to prevent this from recurring."
The pension fund has made provisions for the anticipated fine in its 2023-2024 financial year accounts and has not raised member administration fees to cover the cost.
ASIC initiated legal proceedings against AustralianSuper in September 2023 after the fund self-reported a potential compliance failure in December 2021.