A representative action against NAB subsidiary NULIS Nominees (Australia) Limited in its capacity as trustee of the MLC Super Fund (No 4) has been dismissed by the Federal Court of Australia.

The plaintiffs sought damages from NULIS for amounts the group members allegedly lost from being charged fees from 1 July 2016 from which they say they derived no benefit.

The applicant was a member of The Universal Superannuation Fund Scheme (TUSS), the trustee of which was MLC Nominees. On 1 July 2016 the members of TUSS were transferred by a ‘successor fund transfer’ to the MLC Super Fund, the trustee of which from the time it was established has been NULIS.

Justice Brigitte Markovic found comprehensively in favour of NAB and NULIS.

Nippon Life has since acquired NAB’s life insurance business.

The main interest in the judgement may be in the complexity of NAB’s superannuation and wealth management business at the time, as well as shedding light on the machinations within NAB to offload this division.