Sale of Interprac raises eyebrows at ASIC

ASIC wants the Federal Court to appoint a receiver to investigate the fire sale of Interprac Financial Planning to Conquest Investment Partners, saying it has concerns over what it may mean for the advice group's creditors.

The regulator has applied to the Federal Court to have Sarah Seeckts and Gayle Dickinson of KPMG appointed to investigate the proposed sale of Interprac Financial Planning.

The sale was announced on March 23, with Sequoia Financial Group offloading the licensee for just $50,000 to Sydney-based private equity outfit Conquest Investment Partners. Under the deal, Conquest would take on Interprac's $6 million investment portfolio and $1.5 million in cash reserves.

ASIC said it is concerned the sale could adversely affect Interprac's creditors, including its liabilities in relation to complaints sitting with the Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA) regarding the collapse of the Shield and First Guardian Master Funds.

There are currently more than 900 open complaints with AFCA in relation to advice provided by Interprac representatives, and the complaints body has published two lead determinations that would influence their outcomes. About $677 million is owed to investors who were advised by Interprac representatives to invest in the failed funds.

ASIC said a receiver must be appointed to investigate and report on whether the deal made between Sequoia and Conquest is "bona fide, fair and reasonable", and report on Interprac's financial position and solvency.

In 2022, Sequoia Financial, Sequoia Wealth and Interprac entered a Deed of Cross Guarantee under which each of the entities guarantees the debts of the other. If the receivers deem the sale to be legitimate, then all other signatories to the deed are released from their obligations.

When Sequoia announced the sale of Interprac, it said if the sale were to go through, the new owner "may elect to withdraw or accelerate the AFCA determinations and seek to mediate with ASIC regarding its separate actions as Sequoia had planned to do."

Further to ASIC's action, Sequoia has been forced to reply to a compliance letter from the ASX questioning how industry publication Professional Planner was able to publicise the proposed sale before it was announced via the ASX. The article was published around 5pm on Friday, March 20 while Sequoia's announcement to the market didn't come until around 9.30am the following Monday.

Sequoia managing director Garry Crole stated that he provided the information to the publication with assurances that no article would be published until the transaction had been announced to the market. Sequoia was in a trading halt at the time. However, Crole has since conceded he confused Professional Planner with another publication and that no such discussion occurred with a journalist from the title, with Sequoia Financial Group issuing a formal apology to Professional Planner and its editorial team; the article published by Professional Planner was based on documentation leaked to the outlet.

Further in its response to the ASX, Sequoia said the breach of listing rule 15.7 - which mandates that a listed entity must not disclose confidential information intended for the market to any party prior to providing it to the ASX - was "regrettable" and "unintentional" but said that at no point between the article's publication and Sequoia's announcement was the market trading uninformed.

Sequoia is once again in a trading halt, having requested it pending the release of an announcement.

Editor's note: This article was updated on 10 April 2026 to reflect Sequoia Financial Group's amended statements regarding Professional Planner.