ASIC Royce Capital case moved to the Federal Court on Monday as the regulator sought to stop four parties from selling financial products in Australia. ASIC named Royce Capital Investments Pty Ltd, Royce (Aust) Real Estate Pty Ltd, Louie Kortesis and Paul Chiodo in the filing. The regulator alleges the companies provided financial services without an Australian financial services licence. None of the allegations have been tested in court.
The application also seeks to block the promotion of three offshore vehicles. ASIC named Royce Global Investments LP and Royce Global Real Estate LP in the Cayman Islands, and Royce Private Investments Fund LP in Delaware. In addition, the regulator wants a broader restraint on promoting or taking money for any financial product in Australia.
ASIC said brochures for the offers claimed a guaranteed or fixed return of 13% per annum. According to the regulator, five self-managed superannuation funds invested A$1.536 million in August 2025. ASIC said the sum in Monday’s filing is the smallest amount involved in the cases brought so far.
ASIC Royce Capital Case Expands Probe
The new filing came four days after ASIC sued Auditeo Australia Pty Ltd, lead auditor Ajm Didarul Islam Khan and Brian Robert Taylor. That case concerns audit reports on First Guardian and its compliance plan for the 2020 to 2024 financial years. ASIC alleges Auditeo’s files do not show that any financial audit was performed for 2021, even though an unqualified report was issued.
The regulator also alleges about A$137 million of reported assets went untested in 2022. That figure rose to about A$170 million in 2023, according to ASIC. Liquidators were appointed around six months after those reports were signed, and liquidators have warned losses could reach A$446 million.
Wider First Guardian and Shield Action
Together, the two new cases extend an enforcement effort tied to about 11,000 investors and roughly A$1.1 billion across First Guardian and the Shield Master Fund. More than 6,000 Australians were exposed to First Guardian, according to the article. ASIC said the investigations into First Guardian and Shield rank among the most complex in its history.
Chiodo is a former director of Keystone Asset Management, which operated Shield, and ASIC filed separate proceedings against him in June. Falcon Capital ran First Guardian, while Keystone ran Shield. No hearing dates have been set in either of the new proceedings.
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Source: Finance Magnates
