Vanguard hit with $12.9m greenwashing penalty

Vanguard Investments Australia has been hit by one of the largest-ever greenwashing penalties.

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) said the Federal Court today ordered Vanguard Investments Australia to pay a $12.9 million penalty for making misleading claims about environmental, social and governance (ESG) exclusionary screens.

These screens were applied to investments in the Vanguard Ethically Conscious Global Aggregate Bond Index Fund.

Commenting on the court decision, ASIC Deputy Chair Sarah Court said, “This is an important decision and the penalty imposed is the highest yet for greenwashing conduct. Greenwashing is a serious threat to the integrity of the Australian financial system, and remains an enforcement priority for ASIC”.

“Vanguard admitted it misled investors that these funds would be screened to exclude bond issuers with significant business activities in certain industries, including fossil fuels, when this was not always the case.

“It is essential that companies do not misrepresent that their products or investment strategies are environmentally friendly, sustainable, or ethical. The size of the penalty should send a strong deterrent message to others in the market to carefully review any sustainable investment claims.’

Justice O’Bryan said ‘Vanguard’s contraventions should be regarded as serious. Vanguard’s misrepresentations concerned the principal distinguishing feature of the Fund, being its “ethical” characteristics. Vanguard developed and promoted the Fund in response to market demand for investment funds having those characteristics.

‘By its misleading conduct, Vanguard misrepresented the “ethical” characteristics of the Fund. Approximately 74% of the securities in the Fund by market value were not researched or screened against applicable ESG criteria. Further, Vanguard benefited from its misleading conduct. The misrepresentations enhanced Vanguard’s ability to attract investors to the Fund, and enhanced Vanguard’s reputation as a provider of investment funds with ESG characteristics, as compared to what would have been the case if Vanguard had accurately disclosed the ESG screening limitations and the Fund’s exposure to issuers engaged in the excluded industries.’

The claims were made in a range of public communications, including:

• 12 product disclosure statements
• A media release
• Statements published on Vanguard’s website
• A Finance News Network interview on YouTube, and
• A presentation at a Finance News Network Fund Manager Event which was published online.

Investments held by the Fund were based on an index called the Bloomberg Barclays MSCI Global Aggregate SRI Exclusions Float Adjusted Index. Vanguard had claimed the Index excluded only companies with significant business activities in a range of industries, including those involving fossil fuels, but has admitted that certain securities in the Index and the Fund were from issuers that were not researched or screened against applicable ESG criteria.