ASIC investigates Bathla Group, which owed over $3b in August

WAtoday reports the Bathla group’s corporate structure took money from 42 different lenders, and that many of them were unlikely to get it back. The outlet says the developer drew on dozens of private credit funds and, WAtoday says, owed more than $3 billion in August.

WAtoday explains that private credit funds pool investor money and lend it to businesses, rather than lending from a bank balance sheet. The outlet puts the sector at about $250 billion.

The numbers

The ASIC report examined 24 funds, according to WAtoday. The findings WAtoday relays include:

• The report reviewed advice given to 46 retail clients about private credit, with an average suggested allocation of $100,000, about 12 per cent of their funds.
• In one case an adviser proposed placing 87 per cent of a single client’s money in one fund, which WAtoday says creates major risk if anything goes wrong.
• One fund, not named by ASIC, retained four times the management fees it had disclosed, by passing borrower fees through a related company.
• A second unnamed fund shifted almost 20 per cent of its assets into a related vehicle. WAtoday notes there could be legitimate reasons, but ASIC said the arrangement can raise governance issues because the same manager sits on both sides.
• ASIC identified two arrangements where some financial advice licensees and associates appeared to have received payments from a private credit fund manager.

WAtoday also reports that on Monday 9 November ASIC ordered Adelaide-based Angas Securities to halt new investment into two of its funds, over concerns about disclosure of the funds’ financial position, including exposure to the Bathla Group. Angas confirmed the orders in a statement, saying they would stand for 21 days unless revoked sooner, and told investors not to assume withdrawal requests are guaranteed.

What’s next

Constant said the answer is lifting standards across the sector, and urged operators to adopt the 10 standards set out by ASIC, per WAtoday. Constant said private credit is important to the economy but operators must lift their practice. On Tuesday the Alternative Investment Management Association (AIMA) and its Alternative Credit Council gave members guidance aimed at the regulator’s concerns. AIMA’s managing director, Michael Gallagher, said the recommendations draw on more than a year of work by fund managers, institutional investors and other experts.

Angas says its orders last 21 days unless revoked sooner. For Sydney developers funded by private credit, the report puts fund fees, related-party transfers and disclosure under ASIC scrutiny. No outcome of the Bathla investigation has been reported. For wider context on building-company failures, see our roundup of ASIC notices covering 227 building companies.

Source: WAtoday, 10 November 2026. Reporting by The Australian Developer.