Former Spaceship Capital director and chief executive, Paul Kevin Bennetts, has been banned by the corporate regulator from providing financial services for six years for dishonestly obtaining his Australian Institute of Company Directors (AICD) qualification.
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) said in October 2018, Bennetts asked a Spaceship Capital compliance officer to complete his assessments for an AICD course on his behalf and without his involvement.
ASIC found this was serious misconduct when he held a very senior position in a financial services company and that his actions placed a subordinate staff member in a very difficult position and constituted a misuse of Spaceship Capital’s resources for his personal gain.
Bennetts was a director and responsible manager of Spaceship Capital and the company’s CEO between 2017 and 2019. Spaceship Capital operates managed investment schemes and is the promoter of the Spaceship Super Fund.
ASIC noted that while Bennetts accepted he acted dishonestly and expressed remorse, he engaged in wrongful conduct and failed to maintain the higher standards expected of a financial services provider.
Super funds had a “tremendous month” in November, according to new data.
Australia faces a decade of deficits, with the sum of deficits over the next four years expected to overshoot forecasts by $21.8 billion.
APRA has raised an alarm about gaps in how superannuation trustees are managing the risks associated with unlisted assets, after releasing the findings of its latest review.
Compared to how funds were allocated to March this year, industry super funds have slightly decreased their allocation to infrastructure in the six months to September – dropping from 11 per cent to 10.6 per cent, according to the latest APRA data.