ASIC

The Federal Court has found that collapsed contracts for difference (CFD) issuer, Union Standard International Group Pty Ltd and two of its former corporate authorised representatives, BrightAU Capital Pty Ltd and Maxi EFX Global AU Pty Ltd, engaged in systemic unconscionable conduct as well as a raft of other contraventions of the law between 2018 and 2020.

More than 500 retail clients of Oztures Trading Pty Ltd, trading as Binance Australia Derivatives, were denied important consumer protections after being misclassified as wholesale clients, ASIC alleges in documents filed in the Federal Court. Retail clients trading financial products, in this case, crypto derivative products, have important rights and consumer protections under Australian financial services laws. Check the first comment to read more. #crypto

Former Greensill Group lead auditor Joseph John Santangelo will not be able to audit companies until June 2026 after the Companies Auditors Disciplinary Board found that he failed to carry out or perform adequately and properly the duties of an auditor when he audited of the financial statements of Greensill Capital Pty Ltd and its subsidiaries. ASIC Deputy Chair Sarah Court said, ‘Auditors are a critical part of the governance framework and are in a unique position to identify and limit misconduct. The failure of auditors to meet the standards required of them can have serious consequences for investors and erode confidence in the integrity of Australia’s capital markets.’ Check the first comment to read more. #auditor #misconduct #governance

HSBC Bank Australia Limited (HSBC Australia) failed to adequately protect customers scammed out of millions of dollars, according to documents filed by ASIC in the Federal Court. We allege HSBC Australia failed to have adequate controls in place to prevent and detect unauthorised payments and failed to comply with its obligations to investigate customer reports of unauthorised transactions within the specified timeframes required, and to promptly reinstate their banking services in a timely manner. We allege that between January 2020 and August 2024, HSBC received approximately 950 reports of unauthorised transactions, resulting in customer losses of about $23 million. Almost $16 million of this occurred in the six months from October 2023 to March 2024. Deputy Chair Sarah Court said, ‘We allege HSBC Australia’s failings were widespread and systemic, and the bank failed to protect its customers. 'We allege HSBC Australia compounded the problem by failing to comply with its obligations under the ePayments Code and let its customers down when they needed their help the most, on average taking 145 days to investigate customers’ reports that they had been scammed.’ Check the first comment to read more. #scam #ConsumerProtection

Legal proceedings launched by ASIC have seen the Australian operator of the Kraken crypto exchange ordered to pay $8 million for unlawfully issuing a credit facility to more than 1,100 Australian customers. ASIC Chair Joe Longo said, ‘This is a significant outcome. It is ASIC’s first penalty against an entity for failing to have a target market determination and a reminder for digital assets firms to consider their regulatory compliance obligations.’ Check the first comment to read more.

We’re excited to announce the launch of our new Professional Registers Search (PRS) Every year, over 657,000 searches are conducted on ASIC’s professional registers via ASIC Connect. Now, we’ve made it even easier for consumers and businesses to access this critical information, helping to build confidence in the financial services provided by registered licensees. What’s new? The PRS offers a simplified and more user-friendly experience—all accessible directly from the ASIC website. Whether you’re a consumer verifying a service provider or a business seeking insights, the PRS makes finding the information you need faster and more intuitive. We’d love to hear your feedback—check it out and let us know what you think.

We have commenced legal proceedings in the Supreme Court of NSW seeking leave to allege Regional Express Holdings Limited (administrators appointed) (Rex) engaged in misleading and deceptive conduct and contraventions of continuous disclosure obligations. We will also allege former executive chair Lim Kim Hai was involved in Rex’s continuous disclosure breach and that Mr Lim, along with The Hon John Sharp AM, Lincoln Pan and Siddharth Khotkar, contravened their directors’ duties. Chair Joe Longo said, ‘Our case will allege serious governance failures at Rex. Rex’s directors had a responsibility to take reasonable steps to ensure the company complied with the law and we will seek to hold them to account. ‘We will allege four of Rex’s directors breached their duties because they failed to take steps to ensure the market had accurate information about the company’s financial performance.’ Check the first comment to read more. #ContinuousDisclosure #DirectorsDuties #MarketIntegrity

In a recent speech at the Australasian Consumer Law Roundtable, Commissioner Alan Kirkland highlighted the need to extend the proposed Unfair Trading Practices Prohibition to financial services. Why? Because financial products are complex, high-stakes, and ripe for exploitation. Without this protection, Australians will be vulnerable to harmful practices like opaque fees or biased algorithms when dealing with financial firms. We’re calling for an economy-wide prohibition to protect all consumers and future-proof our laws. What’s your take on this critical reform? #ASIC #ConsumerProtection #FairTrading

ASIC has updated its regulatory guide for directors and their professional advisers on the duty to prevent insolvent trading and to provide new guidance on the safe harbour provisions. Find out more in the first comment.

We’re committed to workplace diversity and fostering an inclusive environment where all our people, our stakeholders and our communities are treated with fairness and respect. So, in celebration of International Day of People with Disability, Commissioner Kate O’Rourke hosted a discussion with guest speakers from the Australian Bureau of Statistics on neurodiversity in the workplace. The speakers shared their personal stories and insights on navigating a successful career and how we can support our neurodiverse friends and colleagues. #IDPwD #neurodivergent #diversity