The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has filed a lawsuit against a Finder.com subsidiary over a cryptocurrency product, alleging that the company provided unlicensed financial services and violated consumer protection laws. Finder.com is the country’s largest comparison website.
ASIC filed a civil lawsuit against Finder Wallet, a cryptocurrency-related service provider, in federal court.
According to a report, ASIC claimed in the court filing that Finder Wallet, a division of price comparison website Finder.com, invited users to deposit funds into an account, convert them to a stablecoin, and pay guaranteed returns in order to effectively sell debentures without a financial services license.
According to the lawsuit, the firm failed to meet its design and distribution obligations, provided unapproved financial services, and violated product disclosure laws.
Sarah Court, ASIC Deputy Chair, said in a statement:
“Just because an offer involves a crypto-asset related product does not guarantee it will fall outside the current regulatory regime.”
According to Reuters, a Finder.com spokesperson stated that the company disagrees with ASIC’s assessment that Finder Earn qualifies as a debenture and that all customer funds were returned when the service was shut down in November.
“We do not share ASIC’s view that Finder Earn can be regarded as a debenture. Since Finder Earn was launched in November 2021, we have proactively engaged with ASIC and have cooperated fully with all ASIC requests for information,” Finder.com spokesperson stated.
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