The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has initiated civil penalty proceedings in Federal Court against BPS Financial Pty Ltd, one of the asset management companies operating in the country.

according to a Press release shared by the regulator, BPS Financial made a series of false and misleading statements about the Qoin Financial tokens it allegedly distributes to 79,000 investors.

As ASIC noted, BPS Financial traded the Qoin token promising that those who hold the coin can exchange it for other financial assets, including the Australian dollar, on independent exchanges. While BPS also alleges that the Qoin token can be used to purchase goods and pay for services from merchants it is associated with, it stated that the purse and the Qoin token crypto product were regulated by the relevant authorities.

The Australian regulator found that none of the company’s claims are true and that contrary to the claims, the products were unlicensed and token holders were also unable to liquidate their holdings as promised at independent brokerage firms.

“We allege that despite what BPS represented in its trading, the number of Qoin traders has decreased and that there have been periods of time where it was not possible to trade Qoin tokens through independent exchanges,” said the vice president. of ASIC, Sarah Court, “ASIC is particularly concerned about the alleged misrepresentation that the Qoin Facility is regulated in Australia, as we believe that the more than 79,000 individuals and entities to whom the Qoin Facility was issued may have believed that it complied with financial services laws when considered by ASIC. was not.”

Indeed, ASIC is seeking declarations, financial penalties, injunctions and adverse publicity orders from the Court. The regulator has been playing a more active role in the industry and recently stopped 3 crypto funds owned by Holon Investments in an attempt to protect consumers.

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