The Australian Federal Court has discovered that Maliver Pty Limited and its owner Melissa Caddick, carried on a financial services business without holding an Australian Financial Services (AFS) licence.
The court has decided that Maliver would be wound up and has appointed Bruce Gleeson and Daniel Soire of Jones Partners as receivers of the property of Caddick and liquidators.
The court noted that the collection and distribution of assets will be handled by the liquidators.
According to ASIC’s announcement, Caddick operated without an AFS licence between October 2012 and November 2020.
This decision made by the court follows a three-day hearing held on 29 June 2021. There were criminal charges brought up in march against Caddick, however, they were withdrawn in order to enable civil proceedings in the Federal Court to continue.
The Australian regulator recently issued a reminder to companies to be mindful when engaging with financial influencers as they may be contributing to regulatory risks such as licence issues, conflict of interest and market misconduct.
