The Australian federal court has dismissed a lawsuit brought by the country’s corporate regulator, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), against a sister company of Australian fintech firm Finder.com. The court found that Finder Earn, the company’s yield-bearing product, was compliant with financial laws.
Justice Brigitte Markovic ruled on March 14 that ASIC failed to establish that the Finder Earn product qualifies as a debenture under the Corporations Act, a debt security involving repayment of borrowed money with interest. As ASIC’s allegations were based on establishing Finder Earn as a debenture, the contraventions of the Corporations Act could not be substantiated, leading to the dismissal of the proceeding with costs.
ASIC had sued Finder subsidiary Finder Wallet in December 2022, alleging that Finder Earn was an unlicensed financial product requiring a financial services license. Finder had discontinued the product a month earlier, citing strategic business decisions rather than regulatory concerns. A Finder spokesperson hailed the court order as a “landmark win” and clarified that there are no immediate plans to relaunch the Earn product.
Finder Global CEO and co-founder Frank Restuccia expressed satisfaction with the outcome, emphasizing Finder’s compliance with regulatory obligations and its proactive engagement with ASIC. Restuccia emphasized the importance of good regulation in consumer protection.
ASIC’s executive director of enforcement and compliance, Tim Mullaly, stated that the regulator pursued the matter to ensure appropriate licensing and consumer protections. ASIC will review the judgment and has 28 days to appeal to the Full Federal Court.
This development follows ASIC’s partial win against crypto yield platform Block Earner, where the court ruled penalties against Block Earner’s yield-bearing product were warranted. However, the court did not classify Block Earner’s DeFi “Access” product as requiring a license, as it did not operate under a managed investment scheme.
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