The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has appealed the Federal Court’s decision to dismiss ASIC’s proceedings against Finder Wallet Pty Ltd for allegedly providing unlicensed financial services, breaching product disclosure requirements and failing to comply with design and distribution obligations in relation to its crypto-asset related product ‘Finder Earn’.
ASIC had alleged that the Finder Earn product was a debenture. The Federal Court disagreed and dismissed ASIC’s proceedings on 14 March 2024.
ASIC has appealed this decision because it is concerned that the Finder Earn product was offered without the appropriate licence or authorisation and therefore without the benefit of important consumer protections.
The appeal will be heard by the Full Federal Court on a date to be determined.
Finder Wallet is a subsidiary of comparison website Finder.com and an AUSTRAC-registered Digital Currency Exchange.
Finder Wallet offered Finder Earn between late February and 10 November 2022. Finder Earn customers deposited Australian dollars into their accounts, which were then converted to an Australian dollar-denominated ‘stablecoin’ called TAUD and allocated to Finder Wallet. Customers received Australian dollars back into their accounts when they exited the Finder Earn product. Finder Wallet paid customers (in Australian dollars) an annual compounding return of either 4.01% or, in some circumstances, 6.01%, in exchange for the use of their funds by Finder Wallet.
After ASIC notified Finder Wallet of its concerns, Finder Earn ceased being offered from 24 November 2022 and all funds were returned in full to customers.
