Macquarie will pay back $321m to thousands of Australians following the collapse of Shield Master Fund.

The major bank has admitted breaking the Corporations Act as 3000 members invested in the failed fund, according to court documents released by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) on Thursday.

As trustee of those peoples’ nest eggs, Macquarie did not act efficiently, honestly and fairly as it failed to put Shield Master Fund on a watch list for heightened monitoring, ASIC says.

The watchdog has now filed proceedings in the Federal Court against Macquarie Investment Management Limited.

ASIC deputy chair Sarah Court, speaking to the media on Thursday morning, said Macquarie would make the full payments in a matter of days.

Some 11,000 people have been caught up

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