Australian Federal Court issues interim orders against Mayfair Platinum and Mayfair 101

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has marked progress in its action against Mayfair Wealth Partners Pty Ltd (Mayfair Platinum) and Online Investments Pty Ltd (Mayfair 101). The regulator today announced that, on April 16, 2020, the Federal Court issued interim orders restraining Mayfair Platinum and Mayfair 101 from promoting their debenture products and prohibiting the use of specific words and phrases in their advertising.

This follows an application made by ASIC for an interim injunction earlier this month.

Mayfair Platinum and Mayfair 101 promote M+ Fixed Income Notes and M Core Fixed Income Notes, their debenture products available to wholesale investors (Mayfair debenture products). Payment of redemptions of capital to investors in the Mayfair debenture products was suspended on March 11, 2020 due to liquidity issues.

On 16 April 2020, Justice Anderson of the Federal Court restrained Mayfair Platinum and Mayfair 101, until further order, from:

• All advertising, promotion and marketing of the Mayfair debenture products; and

Using the below prohibited phrases in any advertising, promotion or marketing of any products, including on their websites and through sponsored link advertising, including, via Google AdWords and Bing Ads:

• “term deposit”;
• “bank deposit”;
• “capital growth”;
• “certainty”;
• “fixed term”; and
• “term investment”.

The Court also ordered that Mayfair Platinum and Mayfair 101 must post a notice on their websites about the entities not being banks and that they are not regulated by APRA. They must give a copy of the notice to each prospective new investor in the Mayfair debenture products.

The Court, however, declined to restrain the defendants from issuing and accepting new investments in the Mayfair debenture products.