Australian regulator accuses Finder of not having a license

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Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) accused Finder of offering an unlicensed product that generates income in cryptocurrency.

On Thursday 15 December, ASIC initiatedlitigation against Finder Wallet, a subsidiary of Finder.com. The regulator claims that financial product Finder Earn is unlicensed and Finder Wallet violated product disclosure requirements. 

As stated in the ASIC complaint, via Finder Earnusers could earn an annual return of 4.01% to 6.01% for depositing True AUD, a stablecoin pegged to the Australian dollar. The agency designated the product as an AFS-licensed unsecured debt obligation. Given its absence, Finder Earn exposes users to the risk of losing funds, the regulator claims.

However, Finder management disagreesASIC charges. A Finder.com spokesperson said that since the launch of Finder Earn in November 2021, the company has actively engaged with ASIC and responded to all requests for information from the agency in a timely manner. 

A Finder spokesperson also explained thatThe decision to close the product on November 24 was a strategic one, driven by rising interest rates rather than regulatory scrutiny. Following Finder Earn's termination, all funds were returned to users. Finder management did not say whether the company will challenge the regulator's lawsuit.

“Our message to the industry is quite simple:just because a proposal relates to a crypto asset product does not mean it should be regulated outside the current regime,” said ASIC Deputy Chair Sarah Court.

Let us recall that in November ASIC filed a lawsuit againstBlock Earner for offering several cryptocurrency products without an AFS license. In response, Block Earner's CEO criticized Australia's crypto asset regulatory regime for its lack of clarity.