Federal Court grants ASIC order to freeze Shield fund

The Federal Court has upheld interim orders sought by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) to freeze the assets of the Shield Master Fund, under the responsible entity (RE) umbrella of Keystone Asset Management.

The orders follow prior actions ASIC took against Shield in February 2024 to block new investments by placing interim stop orders on four product disclosure statements (PDSs).

The current orders prevent Keystone from:

• removing property from Australia,
• selling, charging, mortgaging, dealing with or disposing of property,
• incurring new liabilities, or
• withdrawing, transferring, disposing of, or dealing with money held in bank accounts or with a financial institution (subject to limited exceptions).

Paul Chiodo, a former Director of Keystone, was also ordered to surrender his passport and not leave the country.

A statement from the corporate regulator said the orders are intended to “help protect investor funds while an investigation is occurring”.

Another Court hearing is currently scheduled to take place on 25 June.