The Australian financial watchdog, ASIC, continues to lift the veil on fake brokers in the country. In Australia ASIC brokers crackdown, the regulator got an order to seize assets of three FX brokers. According to the report, Gallop FX and Ming-Chien Wang were carrying out financial services without any authorization in Australia.
7 November, AtoZForex - The assets of three Forex brokers have been seized for regulating unlicensed financial services in Australia, according to a statement by ASIC.
Assets seized in Australia ASIC brokers crackdown
According to court's order, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) will take action against Gallop International Group Pty Ltd (GIG), Gallop Asset Management Ltd (GAM) and Ming-Chien Wang. The orders stipulate the freezing the money of the defendants held in their bank accounts. It also restrains them from carrying on a financial services business in Australia without holding an Australian Financial Services Licence.
In addition, the websites of brokers were ordered to be deactivated in which they are promoting trading services. At the time of publication of this article, the websites in question were still accessible.
The Federal Court has issued orders due to the concerns of Australian financial watchdog that GIG, GAM and Wang are carrying on an unlicensed financial business. Therefore, they don't have permission to provide financial services in Australia. The interim orders will remain in force until further order.
ASIC planning tougher financial misconduct penalties
Recently, ASIC, which has issued ICO regulatory guidance for investors, has planned tougher financial misconduct penalties. The Australian financial regulator seeks to increase penalties for corporate and financial industry wrongdoing. As a matter of fact, ASIC has an authority to act in a number of ways. They include imposing regulatory and enforcement penalties and remedies in regards to the wrongdoing in the financial markets.
Yet, the regulator has noticed the increasing remarks from the industry participants about the effectiveness of the penalties in the ASIC legislation. Concerning the fact, the penalties may not be effective in regards to the community perceptions in certain forms of misconduct.
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