Category: News

ASIC has disqualified Mohamed Aly Ismail Khalaf of Condell Park, NSW, from managing corporations for five years due to his involvement in the failure of three companies. Between 29 July 2013 and 16 September 2019, Mr Khalaf was an officer of three companies that entered liquidation: Qld Protection Security Pty Ltd (ACN 165 047 110);...

ASIC has today strengthened its scam prevention tools to support consumers with the publication of a new investor alert list. Consumers can use this list to help inform themselves as to whether an entity they are considering investing in could be fraudulent, a scam or unlicensed. ‘Unlicensed and imposter investment opportunities cause serious financial and...

Greenwashing is simply misleading and deceptive conduct by another name, writes ASIC Deputy Chair Sarah Court FAICD. ASIC is deeply committed to protecting Australians from financial harm, acting on and deterring misconduct, and upholding the integrity of Australia’s financial system. To support this commitment, last year, I announced ASIC’s 2023 enforcement priorities. Following an influx...

ASIC has commenced civil penalty proceedings in the Federal Court alleging Telstra Super failed to comply with internal dispute resolution requirements. This is the first proceeding under this regime, which came into effect on 5 October 2021. The new regime makes certain provisions of ASIC’s Regulatory Guide for Internal Dispute Resolution (RG 271) enforceable, including...

At a press conference today, Assistant Treasurer Stephen Jones outlined a new scam website takedown capability implemented by ASIC. The takedown capability removes or limits access to fraudulent and malicious websites on the internet and expands on a three-week trial ASIC conducted in 2022. Since July 2023, ASIC has disrupted scam activity by initiating takedowns...

We are partnering with regulators across the world as part of the Monetary Authority of Singapore’s (MAS) Project Guardian, a collaborative initiative with the financial industry that explores fund and asset tokenisation use cases, and decentralised finance. The FCA joins MAS, Singapore’s central bank, the Financial Services Agency of Japan (FSA), and the Swiss Financial...

ESMA publishes today an article on the evolution of the European share market structure from 2019 to 2022, following the implementation of the markets in financial instruments directive (MiFID II). Specific focus is given to the impact of the UK’s withdrawal from the EU, given its pivotal role in equity markets. The European market structure...

We have reviewed the findings of the initial independent report, commissioned by NatWest, into decisions on potential account closures and data protection breaches. This report, and additional information we have considered, has highlighted potential regulatory breaches and a number of areas for improvement. These include: the firms’ processes, systems and controls around how they consider...

ASIC has obtained interim orders from the Federal Court freezing the funds and assets of Australian Financial Services licensee Brite Advisors Pty Ltd (Brite). ASIC’s application for these orders was made because ASIC is concerned that: the current financial position of Brite is unknown, as Brite has failed to lodge with ASIC its financial statements...