Federal Court orders wind-up of Australia AFT Finance Market
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has obtained declarations and orders in the South Australian Registry of the Federal Court against Australia AFT Finance Markets (AFT).
The company - which changed its name to Stone Assets Management on 27 December last year - had promoted trading in contracts for difference through its websites without holding an Australian financial services licence, according to ASIC.
On 19 June 2012, the court made declarations that AFT had contravened various sections of the Corporations Act by carrying on a financial services business without a proper licence and by making false and misleading statements to encourage people to buy financial products.
The court ordered AFT be wound up, Hilary Orr be appointed liquidator, and AFT pay ASIC's costs.
Before the court orders, ASIC had been concerned AFT's sole director had never been a resident of Australia, and the company's websites contained a number of false statements including that AFT was formerly named Adelaide Finance Market before it merged with another company named Brisbane Financial Securities.
An ASIC investigation determined that no companies with those names have ever been incorporated in Australia.
Similarly, a number of other claims on AFT's websites are the same as those found on the website of Australia NFT Finance Market - a company that is not incorporated Australia.
Recommended for you
Net cash flow on AMP’s platforms saw a substantial jump in the last quarter to $740 million, while its new digital advice offering boosted flows to superannuation and investment.
Insignia Financial has provided an update on the status of its private equity bidders as an initial six-week due diligence period comes to an end.
A judge has detailed how individuals lent as much as $1.1 million each to former financial adviser Anthony Del Vecchio, only learning when they contacted his employer that nothing had ever been invested.
Having rejected the possibility of an IPO, Mason Stevens’ CEO details why the wealth platform went down the PE route and how it intends to accelerate its growth ambitions in financial advice.
