ASIC launches civil penalty action against Finder Wallet in Federal Court

According to a statement issued by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), ASIC has filed civil penalty proceedings in the Federal Court against Finder Wallet, a subsidiary of Finder.com, a service comparison website for home mortgages, credit cards and loans, alleging that the latter has been involved in cryptocurrency-related violations. Offer of unlicensed financial services, breach of product disclosure requirements, and failure to comply with relevant Design and Distribution Obligations (DDOs) in the product Finder Earn. Following ASIC's notification to Finder Wallet, Finder Wallet will cease offering Finder Earn products from 24 November 2022 and all funds have been fully refunded to customers. Finder Wallet offers Finder Earn product services from late February to November 10, 2022. Finder Earn customers deposit Australian dollars into their accounts, which are then converted into Australian dollar-denominated stablecoins called TAUD and distributed to Finder Wallet is used for its own working capital and Finder Wallet pays clients (in AUD terms) a compounded annual rate of return of 4.01% or in some cases 6.01%. ASIC claims that the Finder Earn product is essentially a bond and that Finder Wallet requires an Australian Financial Services license to offer Finder Earn.