Firstmac Fined $8 Million for Breaching Design and Distribution Obligations LeapRate

January 24, 2025 BY Sam Boughedda

Firstmac Fined $8 Million for Breaching Design and Distribution Obligations

It marks the Australian Securities and Investments Commission’s (ASIC) first civil penalty action against a distributor for DDO breaches. ASIC explained in a press release that the case centred on Firstmac’s marketing of its High Livez investment product, a registered managed investment scheme, to 780 existing term deposit holders between October 2021 and September 2022. …

January 22, 2025 BY Sam Boughedda

UBS Financial Services Fined By FINRA for Inaccuracies in Transaction Information

The settlement, revealed in a Letter of Acceptance, Waiver, and Consent (AWC), arises from issues in UBS FSI’s reporting of “blue sheets” between December 2012 and September 2018. Blue sheets contain critical transaction details used by regulators to investigate potential market misconduct, including insider trading and market manipulation. FINRA said UBS FSI misreported or omitted…

January 20, 2025 BY Sam Boughedda

ASIC: Buy Now Pay Later Providers Must Apply For a Credit Licence

The Treasury Laws Amendment (Responsible Buy Now Pay Later and Other Measures) Act 2024, which received royal assent on 10 December 2024, extends the National Credit Code to BNPL contracts. ASIC explained that from 10 June 2025, BNPL providers will need to hold a credit licence authorising them to engage in credit activities as credit…

January 15, 2025 BY Sam Boughedda

Equiti Gains In-Principle Approval to Launch Investment Fund

It marks the inaugural product under its newly introduced platform, Equiti Wealth, aimed at offering diverse wealth management solutions tailored to long-term investment needs. The Equiti Global Balanced Fund is designed to provide investors with access to a wide array of professionally managed funds, with a minimum investment threshold set at $1,000. "Today signifies a…

January 15, 2025 BY Sam Boughedda

CFPB Sues Capital One: Says Company Cheated Consumers Out of Over $2bn in Interest Payments

The lawsuit alleges that Capital One deceived customers about its 360 Savings accounts, promising "best" and "highest" interest rates while freezing those rates at low levels despite rising interest rates across the market. The CFPB further claims that Capital One simultaneously introduced a similar product, the 360 Performance Savings account. This is said to have…

January 14, 2025 BY Sam Boughedda

Robinhood to Pay SEC £45m in Penalties

The SEC order found that Robinhood failed to comply with a broad spectrum of regulations. These are said to include delays in investigating and reporting suspicious transactions, inadequate measures to safeguard customer data from identity theft, and failing to adequately address a cybersecurity breach that compromised user data. “Today’s order finds that two Robinhood firms…

January 10, 2025 BY Sam Boughedda

Investments for You Fined $25,000 for Supervisory Failures

The Ohio-based broker-dealer was found to have violated several FINRA rules between June 2020 and September 2024. According to FINRA’s investigation, Investments for You did not implement policies to comply with Regulation Best Interest (Reg BI), which mandates brokers to act in the best interest of retail customers. “Investments for You failed to establish and…

January 09, 2025 BY Sam Boughedda

Easy Exchange Registration as Small Payment Institution Cancelled by FCA

The regulator’s action follows the firm's inability to meet essential conditions under the Payment Services Regulations 2017 (PSRs). Easy Exchange, which was registered to provide money remittance services, failed to submit the required annual regulatory reports, known as FSA057 returns, for the years 2021, 2022, and 2023. Despite repeated reminders and warnings from the FCA,…

January 09, 2025 BY Sam Boughedda

Fidelity Brokerage Services Hit with $600,000 Fine

The fine comes as the regulator said the company failed to adequately supervise its employees' access to client data and the transmittal of funds from international stock plan services (SPS) accounts. The violations, spanning from December 2012 to October 2020, resulted in an associated person converting approximately $750,000 from 37 international plan participants. FINRA's investigation…

January 08, 2025 BY Sam Boughedda

Saxo Bank Fined €1.6 Million by AFM

The violations occurred between January 2021 and April 2023. They reportedly involved inadequate asset segregation, poor risk management, and unsatisfactory customer treatment during BinckBank's migration to Saxo Bank. The AFM investigation was prompted by consumer complaints and a critical assurance report from BinckBank's accountant. Customers reported delayed transactions, incorrect charges, and missing shares. The AFM…

Category: Regulation