A landmark class action has commenced in the Federal Court, with more than 2 million Australians pursuing financial services giant AMP over alleged excessive fees charged on their superannuation accounts.
The legal action, jointly led by Slater and Gordon and Maurice Blackburn Lawyers, alleges that AMP trustees systematically overcharged customers between 2008 and 2020. The fees in question primarily relate to administration and investment costs applied to a range of superannuation products, including Flexible Lifetime Super, MySuper accounts, cash investments, and term deposits.
At the heart of the case are claims that AMP charged unjustified investment fees on low-risk assets such as cash and term deposits – fees which other retail superannuation funds did not impose.
“This is about justice for ordinary Australians,” said Emma Pelka-Caven, Slater and Gordon’s head of class actions. “These are people who trusted AMP to safeguard their retirement savings – and instead lost thousands of dollars.”
The class action, initiated in 2019, comes after issues with AMP’s business model were raised during the Hayne Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry. The plaintiffs argue that, despite the scrutiny, AMP has failed to address longstanding problems and continues to deny any wrongdoing.
“AMP’s conduct represents a serious failure of duty, transparency and fairness,” said Rebecca Gilsenan, Maurice Blackburn’s national head of class actions. “The class action alleges that AMP superannuation trustees were deferential to the financial interests of the AMP Group at the expense of the interests of members. This had a harmful impact on millions of AMP superannuation account balances.”
The trial is expected to run for seven weeks and may reveal further instances of misconduct that were not fully examined during the Royal Commission proceedings. More than 2.5 million Australians have received court-approved notices confirming their eligibility to participate in the class action.
Legal representatives say the case seeks to return affected members to the financial position they would have held had AMP complied with its fiduciary duties.
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