- ASIC sues Mercer Financial Advice for allegedly misleading customers about fees and services that were not provided
- The organisation claims Mercer made false representations on more than 5500 occasions between July 2016 and June 2019
- Mercer has already paid compensation to more than 3400 customers who were charged incorrect financial advice fees between January 2012 and June 2019, totalling $45 million
- However, ASIC is pushing for the organisation to be fined and publicly disclose its contraventions
ASIC has sued Mercer Financial Advice for allegedly misleading customers about fees and services that were not provided.
The organisation claimed Mercer made false representations on more than 5500 occasions between July 2016 and June 2019.
This includes claims of providing services it had not, making customers pay fees they were not obliged to, and stating customers had a binding contract with Mercer when they did not.
In addition, ASIC alleged Mercer failed to provide fee disclosure statements or it provided inaccurate statements to more than 2100 customers.
Mercer has already paid compensation to more than 3400 customers who were charged incorrect financial advice fees between January 2012 and June 2019, totalling $45 million.
However, ASIC is pushing for the organisation to be fined and publicly disclose its contraventions.
ASIC Deputy Chair said the company’s poor compliance systems led to misleading disclosure statements.
“These proceedings are another example of a large financial institution charging fees to customers that we allege it was not entitled to charge, being for financial services and advice those customers did not receive,” she said.