Throughout the past year, some of Australia’s biggest firms have caught the attention of the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC).
Here are some of the most prominent moves the regulator took in 2024.
10. ASIC takes action against former Blockchain Global director
In February, ASIC secured interim travel restraint orders against former Blockchain Global director Allan Guo. Guo was referred to the regulator for potential breaches of the Corporations Act following the collapse of the company in 2021.
At the time, ASIC said it was investigating Guo and two other directors of Blockchain Global, Samuel Xue Lee and Zijang (Ryan) Xu, over their roles in the collapse of a cryptocurrency asset exchange that Blockchain Global operated.
9. ASIC places interim stop order on managed fund
The regulator kept busy in February, having also made interim stop orders on four product disclosure statements for classes of units of the Shield Master Fund, a registered managed fund promoted by Keystone Asset Management.
In September, ASIC applied for liquidation of Keystone, and later confirmed it was investigating the financial advisers who recommended investors to invest in the Shield Master Fund, with Keystone to be wound up.
8. ASIC wins case against global crypto exchange operator
The Federal Court in August ruled Bit Trade Pty Ltd, the operator of the Kraken cryptocurrency exchange in Australia, failed to comply with design and distribution obligations when offering a margin trading product to Australian customers.
ASIC had outlined that since 5 October 2021, Bit Trade’s “margin extension” product had been available to customers trading on the Kraken exchange without a target market determination, as required by law.
As a result, Bit Trade contravened s994B(2) of the Corporations Act each time it made the product available to a customer, according to the regulator.
7. ASIC takes NAB to court over failing customers facing financial hardship
According to documents filed by ASIC in the Federal Court in November, NAB failed 345 of its customers “at their most vulnerable” when they applied for hardship support,.
ASIC chair Joe Longo said at the time: “We allege NAB unlawfully failed to respond to their customers’ appeal for help when they needed them most.”
According to Longo, these customers included people who were domestic violence victims, battling serious medical conditions, dealing with business closures or job loss.
“NAB’s failures likely compounded the already challenging situation for these people.”
6. ASIC sues ASX over CHESS failures
In August, the regulator commenced proceedings in the Federal Court against the ASX for allegedly making misleading statements related to its Clearing House Electronic Subregister System replacement project.
It alleged that statements made in ASX announcements on 10 February 2022 that the project remained “on-track for go-live” and was “progressing well” were misleading, which, according to the regulator, implied the project was tracking to ASX’s announced project plan and was on track to meet future milestones, including “go-live” in April 2023.
ASIC further alleged that those representations were misleading and deceptive because, at the time of the announcements, the project was not tracking to plan.
