Updated: 12 January 2024

ASIC has taken action against the financial firm

The Australian Securities & Investment Commission (ASIC) cancelled Berndale Capital Securities Pty Ltd’s (Berndale) Australian Financial Services Licence (290108) (AFSL) in November 2018. Berndale has appealed the cancellation of its AFSL with the Administrative Appeals Tribunal.

See ASIC’s Nov 2018 media release

On 5 December 2018 ASIC obtained freezing orders from the Federal Court against Berndale, its associated entities, and Mr Stavro D’Amore. This means Berndale’s bank accounts are now frozen and it is unable to sell or otherwise deal with its property without ASIC’s consent.

See ASIC's Dec 2018 freezing orders media release 

Liquidators have been appointed

On 18 April 2019 the Federal Court appointed Rachel Burdett-Baker and Bruno Secatore of Cor Cordis as Receivers and Managers of Berndale.

On 11 October 2019 the Federal Court appointed Rachel Burdett-Baker and Bruno Secatore of Cor Cordis as Liquidators of Berndale.

See ASIC’s Apr 2019 appointment of receivers media release and the accompanying editor’s note regarding liquidation.

At this stage, we understand it is unlikely that Berndale investors will have all their funds returned. It is too early to estimate the amount of funds that might be returned to each investor. 

You may contact the Liquidators directly if you have any questions about their role. If you have correspondence or information that may assist the Liquidators, you should provide this to them as soon as possible. The relevant contact is:

Ms Catherine Torres
Director
Cor Cordis
PO Box 232
Collins Street West
Melbourne, VIC  
+61 3 8320 5600
ctorres@corcordis.com.au

What this may mean for complaints

From April 2020, AFCA paused complaints against insolvent financial firms financial firms while awaiting detail of the scope and timing of a Compensation Scheme of Last Resort (CSLR).

On 22 June the Australian Parliament passed legislation establishing a CSLR.

Complaints against insolvent financial firms and other complaints that were on pause while awaiting the introduction of CSLR are now under assessment.

AFCA will contact all parties to discuss the status of paused complaint after that assessment is completed. Complainants do not need to do anything in the meantime.

Read more at afca.org.au/CSLR.

We will keep you updated

AFCA will keep you up to date as we become aware of new information about Berndale that may affect complaints. Please check this webpage regularly.

Any questions?

If you have any questions or want more information about lodging a complaint, please

call: 1800 931 678
email: info@afca.org.au

Sorry, we’re currently offline.

Would you like to end your chat with AFCA?

Please bear in mind that your conversation will not be saved.

AFCA chat service terms and conditions

Welcome to our live chat help service.

Please be advised we cannot provide you with financial or legal advice. However, we may be able to refer you to a community legal centre or financial counselling service if you need help.

Our live chat is operated by Genesys Cloud on behalf of AFCA. Any personal information provided in this chat will be captured by both organisations in accordance with their privacy policies, available at www.afca.org.au/privacy and www.genesys.com/company/legal/privacy-policy

Offline

We provide consumers and small businesses with fair, free and independent dispute resolution for financial complaints.

Please enter your details to start your chat with an AFCA representative.

Please enter your name
Please enter a valid email address
Please enter a valid phone number

We provide consumers and small businesses with fair, free and independent dispute resolution for financial complaints.

Welcome to our live chat help service.

An agent should be with you shortly.