ASIC has taken legal action against a major law firm which has refused to hand over documents relating to the regulator’s investigation into fees for no service (FFNS) conduct carried out by AMP.
The regulator applied to the Federal Court of Australia for an order compelling Clayton Utz to produce documents which the legal firm has withheld from ASIC, claiming they are subject to a claim of legal professional privilege (LPP) by AMP.
At present, ASIC is investigating FFNS conduct within the AMP group and had requested the documents from Clayton Utz in October and is now seeking from the Federal Court
- a declaration that the documents are not subject to LPP, or alternatively, that LPP has been waived by AMP Limited
- an order requiring Clayton Utz to produce the documents to ASIC
The case will be heard in the Federal Court in Melbourne on 8 February 2019.
The FFNS investigation is the result of evidence raised at the Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry, and is also examining false or misleading statements made to ASIC in relation to the conduct.
