Active Super cops $10.5m penalty over ESG claims | Australian Markets

Energetic Tremendous has been hit with a $10.5 million Federal Court docket penalty as a end result of motion initiated by the Australian Securities and Investments Fee (ASIC) over greenwashing.

The high quality adopted the court docket discovering in June, final 12 months, that Energetic Tremendous had contravened the law when it invested in numerous securities it claimed have been eradicated or restricted by its environmental, social and governance (ESG) screens.

Commenting on the penalty, ASIC deputy chair, Sarah Court docket mentioned it was a important penalty and one which despatched a robust message to firms making ESG cvlaims that these claims needed to replicate the true place.

Energetic Tremendous claimed in its advertising that it eradicated investments that posed too great a risk to the setting and the group, together with playing, coal mining and oil tar sands. Following the invasion of Ukraine, Energetic Tremendous additionally made representations that Russian investments have been ‘out’.

Nonetheless, opposite to those representations, Energetic Tremendous held direct and oblique investments in firms similar to SkyCity Leisure Group Ltd (playing), Gazprom PJSC (Russian entity), Shell Plc (Oil tar sands) and Whitehaven Coal (Coal mining).