Macquarie Bank Limited and ASIC have resolved their dispute regarding the third party fee authority on the cash management account (CMA). The Federal Court approved the parties’ proposed resolution of ASIC’s case, which it commenced in April 2022.

The case arose in relation to an independent financial adviser who misappropriated client funds through Macquarie’s CMA between 2016 and 2019. The financial adviser, who was not a Macquarie employee, pleaded guilty to fraud and was convicted in 2021. Following his failure to compensate the clients for their losses, Macquarie took the decision to fully reimburse the 13 clients.

Macquarie acknowledges that it had contravened a statutory obligation in connection with the controls to monitor bulk transactions made under third party fee authorities on the CMA. In 2020, Macquarie introduced new controls and processes for third party fee authorities on the CMA to address the issue.