Aussie regulator sues pension fund Active Super, alleges greenwashing (updated)

Coronado Global Resources

10/08/2023 22:38

(Updates with detail on regulator's allegations and context)
       Aug 11 (Reuters) - The Australian securities regulator
said on Friday it filed a lawsuit against Active Super, accusing
the superannuation fund of misleading its members about its
ethical and environment-friendly investments.
    Active Super has stated on its website it no longer had
investments that pose a risk to environment and community,
including in tobacco manufacturing, oil tar sands, and gambling,
the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC)
said.
    The regulator, however, alleged that between February 2021
and June 30 this year, Active Super held 28 direct and indirect
investments that exposed its members to financial products the
company claimed it did not invest in.
    Active Super, which has about A$13.5 billion ($8.80 billion)
in superannuation assets and has 89,000 members as of July 1,
did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
    The regulator listed out some of Active Super's holdings
during this period, including Amcor Plc  485.F , which packages
tobacco, Russian gas giant Gazprom  GAZP.MM , coal miner
Coronado Global Resources  CRN.AX , among others.
    ASIC has been stepping up action against Australian firms
that it believes exaggerate claims over their
environment-friendly investments and financial products, called
"greenwashing".


($1 = 1.5344 Australian dollars)

 (Reporting by Sameer Manekar in Bengaluru; Editing by Shilpi
Majumdar and Shinjini Ganguli)
 ((Sameer.Manekar@thomsonreuters.com; Twitter: https://twitter.com/sameer_manekar))