Melbourne Securities Corporation Limited has paid A $13,320 to comply with an infringement notice issued by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), which accused Melbourne Securities of making misleading statements about its Bloom Climate Impact Fund.。

From March 2022 to June 2023, Melbourne Securities, as the Trustee and responsible entity of the Bloom Fund, made a statement in the Fund's Product Disclosure Statement (PDS) that the Fund would endeavour to avoid investing the Fund's assets in a range of excluded activities, including fossil fuels.。

Despite this, the Bloom fund uses an income threshold that allows it to invest in companies that generate up to 33% of their income from excluded activities such as fossil fuels.。ASIC believes that these revenue thresholds were not disclosed to investors and are contrary to the statements in the PDS。

The regulator believes that using a negative screening process that allows a company to have up to 33% of its revenue from excluded activities is not to avoid investing in those activities。

ASIC claims that due to the application of revenue thresholds, the Bloom Fund acquired and held a direct investment in General Electric, which generated 16% of its revenue from fossil fuels in fiscal 2022.。General Electric was acquired in March 2022, accounting for 0% of the fund under management..96%。The company was spun off in May 2023.。

ASIC notes that paying a notice of infringement does not indicate an admission of guilt or liability.。

Bloom Fund was registered on February 15, 2022 and terminated on June 8, 2023。As of the date of termination, the Fund had approximately $1.7 million of funds under management.。