On 28 April 2025, ASIC permanently banned Noel Northcott of Hillarys, Western Australia from:
- providing any financial services
- controlling, whether alone or in concert with one or more other entities, an entity that carries on a financial services business, and
- performing any function involved in the carrying on of a financial services business (including as an officer, manager, employee, contractor or in some other capacity).
ASIC's concerns centred on Mr Northcott's involvement in the Noon Investment Fund and the Quant Fund, in which Mr Northcott used algorithms to conduct foreign exchange trading with investors' money.
In reaching its decision, ASIC found that:
- In March and April 2022, the Noon Investment Fund lost around $11.3 million. Mr Northcott sent false monthly performance statements to 42 investors in the Noon Investment Fund stating that their investments had increased over this period, when, in fact, their investments had lost 90% of their value. ASIC found that this was dishonest conduct according to the standards of ordinary people, highly unprofessional, and lacking in sound judgement and integrity.
- In or around 2023, Mr Northcott made misleading or deceptive statements by representing that the Quant Fund's performance was higher than it was and that the Quant Fund had operated for longer than it had.
- Mr Northcott failed to understand the Australian financial services licensing and compliance regime and is not adequately trained, or is not competent, to provide one or more financial services, perform one or more functions as an officer of an entity that carries on a financial services business, or control an entity that carries on a financial service business.
Mr Northcott's banning has been recorded on ASIC's Banned and disqualified register.
On 29 April 2025, Mr Northcott lodged an appeal to the Administrative Review Tribunal (ART) for a review of ASIC's decision. He also made an application to stay ASIC's decision to ban him and for confidentiality directions. On 10 October, the ART refused to make stay and confidentiality orders, meaning ASIC could make public its decision to ban Mr Northcott.
