Mercer Super pays $11.3m greenwashing penalty

In another win in ASIC’s greenwashing crackdown, the Federal Court has today ordered Mercer Super to pay a $11.3 million penalty after it admitted to making misleading statements about the sustainable nature and characteristics in some investment options. 

The court found Mercer made misleading statements on its website about seven ‘Sustainable Plus’ investment options offered by the Mercer Super Trust, of which Mercer is the trustee. 

The court found members who took up the options had investments in companies involved in industries the website statements said were excluded, such as: 

• 15 companies involved in the extraction or sale of carbon intensive fossil fuels (including AGL Energy, BHP Group, Glencore PLC and Whitehaven Coal); 

• 15 companies involved in the production of alcohol (including Budweiser Brewing Company APAC, Carlsberg, Heineken and Treasury Wine Estates) and 

• 19 companies involved in gambling (including Aristocrat Leisure, Caesar’s Entertainment, Crown Resorts and Tabcorp Holdings). 

Mercer Super has agreed to pay ASIC’s costs. 

ASIC launched the court proceedings in February 2023.