Fed Court says Macquarie in breach over Shield watch list handling

Yasmine Raso

Senior Journalist

20 March 2026

The Federal Court has deemed that Macquarie Investment Management Limited’s (MIML’s) failure to place the now-collapsed Shield Master Fund on a watch list for “heightened monitoring” is in breach of the Corporations Act.

According to a statement from the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) released on Friday, His Honour Justice Wheelahan declared that MIML should have placed Shield’s investment options under watch so that they could have been subject to more intense scrutiny, such as additional reporting, due diligence, performance monitoring or other follow-up action.

The declarations came from Justice Wheelahan based on a Statement of Agreed Facts and Admissions filed by both parties in Federal Court, saying they “inform the public of the harm arising from Macquarie’s contravening conduct, and they deter other corporations from contravening the Corporations Act”.

Deputy ASIC Chair, Sarah Court, said the judge’s statements reflect the corporate watchdog’s commitment to delivering on its 2026 enforcement priority related to the collapse of Shield.

“Superannuation trustees play a crucial role safeguarding the retirement savings of their members,” Deputy Chair, Sarah Court, said.

“Australians expect super trustees to take the steps necessary to monitor funds available on their platforms.

“In this case, those steps could and should have triggered closer scrutiny of these investments. Following ASIC’s investigation, Macquarie paid members quickly, providing them certainty by returning them to the position they were in before their retirement savings were eroded.

“Today’s declarations reinforce that trustees must put members first and take active steps to identify and respond to risks.”

ASIC first commenced proceedings against MIML in the Federal Court after the regulator accepted a court enforceable undertaking (CEU) from the trustee to pay back the investments of over 3,000 members affected by the fund’s collapse, which resulted in approximately $321 million paid to members late last year.

ASIC’s statement said the Federal Court had noted that no pecuniary penalty against MIML was sought due to “what it considered the exceptional circumstances of the case, including payments to investors”.

ASIC’s other proceedings against Equity Trustees Superannuation Limited seeking compensation for investors in Shield and against Diversa Trustees Limited seeking compensation for investors in First Guardian remain ongoing.