The former executive director of the Australian Centre for Financial Studies, Deborah Ralston, has joined the board of the self-managed superannuation lobby group, the SMSF Association. Ralston ran the ACFS from 2009 to 2015 and is recognized as a thought leader in financial services. BNP Paribas has mandated ANZ, BNP Paribas, Nomura and Westpac to run an Australian dollar denominated Tier 2 subordinated debt transaction. As far as timing is concerned, bankers associated with the deal made the usual prediction in the usual format: "A transaction is expected to follow, subject to market conditions." That has usually meant launched and priced the next day. The subordinated notes are expected to be rated Baa2 by Moody's, BBB+ by Standard & Poors and A by Fitch, a notch below BNP Paribas' corporate ratings (ie, the bank's senior debt is rated A1 by Moody's, A by S&P, and A+ by Fitch). Qantas Loyalty, National Australia Bank's venture capital fund, NAB Ventures and Westpac's ReInventure Fund have pbeen confirmed as investors in the Sydney-based start-up Data Republic's first major funding round, reports AdNews. The startup, launched in 2014, offers a marketplace for data exchange between organisations "to enrich their own customer insights." The A$10.5 million raised in the company's Series A investment round will be used to improve its products and customer appeal, and also to back Data Republic's expansion strategy into the United States later this year. The Supreme Court of Queensland yesterday found five former executives of MFS Investment Management Limited (formerly known as Octaviar) liable for breaching their directors' and officers' duties. The MFS Group collapsed in 2008 owing A$2.5 billion. ASIC launched civil action in 2009 alleging the senior executives misappropriated $143.5 million of unitholders' money to repay debts. ASIC alleged the conduct involved falsifying and backdating company documents to justify the transactions. The matter has been adjourned until 24 June, at which time the court will make declarations of contravention and give further directions in relation to the penalty hearing.