Review of the Trio Capital fraud and assessment of the regulatory framework

Treasury has prepared the Review of the Trio Capital Fraud and Assessment of the Regulatory Framework. The Review independently considered the events behind the collapse of Trio Capital, the responses of the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) and the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) and aspects of the regulatory framework.

The Review found that:

• ASIC and APRA carried out their roles and responsibilities appropriately, under the current regulation framework;
• the Board of Trio Capital failed to manage and monitor risks associated with overseas investments;
• certain financial planners may not have put member interests first and may not have adequately advised their clients of their responsibilities to manage investment risks when choosing to invest through a self-managed superannuation fund (SMSF); and
• some SMSF trustees had an insufficient understanding and knowledge of the risks pertaining to their investments. Inadequate financial advice may have been a contributing factor.