Melbourne Securities fined by ASIC over greenwashing

Melbourne Securities has paid $13,320 to comply with an infringement notice issued by ASIC in which the corporate regulator claimed it made greenwashing statements. 

The notice was in relation to the Bloom Climate Impact Fund, where Melbourne Securities made PDS statements that said the fund would seek to avoid investing in various excluded activities, including in fossil fuels. 

Despite this, the Bloom Fund used revenue thresholds which allowed it to invest in companies that derived up to 33 per cent revenue from excluded activities, such as fossil fuels. 

ASIC argued these revenue thresholds were not disclosed to investors and were contrary to the statements in the PDS. It alleged that as a result, the Bloom Fund acquired and held a direct investment in General Electric Co which derived 16 per cent of its revenue from fossil fuels in the 2022 financial year.