The Australian Securities and Investment Commission has appealed the Federal Court of Australia's decision to approve the settlement between Macquarie Bank and former clients of the now-defunct Storm Financial.

In the appeal, the ASIC said that the decision may not have been fair to all parties involved in the class action lawsuit against the bank for alleged illegal investment activity. Law firm Levitt Robinson represented all of the 1050 Storm clients who lost money after taking margin loans with Macquarie.

The court ruled on 3 May 2013 that the around 315 investors who funded the class action will be reimbursed their legal costs and compensated for approximately 42 per cent of their losses, while the other 735 Macquarie borrowers will only get back some 18 per cent of their losses.

ASIC's appeal says that the distribution of the money may not be in proportion to the losses suffered and that the class action members who funded the action may have been given an unfair advantage at the expense of the remaining 70 per cent. It also notes whether inadequate notice was given to class action members of the prospect of payment of a funders' premium.

"Settlement of a class action should be in the interest of the class action group as a whole. [ASIC] raises the whether the settlement was unfair to the 70 per cent who did not, or were unable to, contribute to the funding of the action," said Peter Kell, deputy chairman for ASIC.

The issue is one of several the regulator has raised against Macquarie Bank. One involves allegations that Macquarie Bank, Bank of Queensland and Senrac engaged in "unconscionable conduct" in connection with their dealings with Storm Financial investors, while the another alleges that Macquarie, along with BoQ had known of the illegal activities within Storm. Trial for the former has been set for 3 June 2013, while the latter's has yet to be scheduled.