ASIC bans director for 8 years for promoting illegal early release of super

Darren Thomas Edden-Brown has been banned by the corporate regulator from providing financial services and engaging in credit activity for eight years after he was found to have facilitated the early release of super for consumers who did not meet the conditions.

Mr Edden-Brown was also banned from controlling or performing any functions as an officer of an entity that carries on a financial services business or engages in credit activities.

Namely, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) found that while operating a business under the brand Enigma, Mr Edden-Brown had told consumers who did not meet the conditions for early release of super that they could access their super early to buy a home or pay personal debts and assisted these consumers to access their super early.

Mr Edden-Brown is the sole director and shareholder of Edden Brown Holdings, the corporate trustee for the Enigma Corporation Trust and the Equitibanx Australian Trust. From 2019 to 2021, he was also a director and ultimate shareholder of licensees Consolidated Mercantile Group (CMG), Wentworth Financial Services, and Search Finance.

“ASIC found that Mr Edden-Brown was responsible for representations on company websites, including that Enigma Corporation, Equitibanx, and CMG were licenced or authorised to provide certain financial products and services, when they were not,” the regulator said.

It noted that although it raised concerns about these statements with Mr Edden-Brown in December 2020, he failed to remove the statements until July 2021.

“As a result of this conduct, ASIC found Mr Edden-Brown is not fit and proper, and is not adequately trained or competent, to participate in the financial services and credit industries,” ASIC said.

Mr Edden-Brown has the right to seek a review of ASIC’s decision at the Administrative Appeals Tribunal.

In July last year, ASIC also banned Albert Christen Walters, CMG’s responsible manager for four years for failing to monitor and oversee CMG’s business and failing to address concerns raised by ASIC.

CMG voluntarily deregistered on 25 February 2023.

Wentworth Financial Services applied to voluntarily cancel its AFS licence and it was cancelled on 8 November 2022.