The Australian financial markets regulator ASIC announced today (Thursday) it decided to suspend the license of two entities operating in the local financial market, JB Markets and First City Corporate Advisory Services (First City). According to official statements, both the reasons and the duration of the suspension vary by company.
ASIC Suspends Two AFS Licenses
Both JB Markets and First City hold the Australian Financial Services (AFS) license, which allows the provision of financial and investment services. JB Markets offers brokerage and dealing services in futures markets, while First City provides corporate advisory, assisting with the purchase or sale of businesses and capital raising.
JB Markets' license has been suspended until April 30, 2024, due to failure to "comply with the financial requirements of its AFS license" and "have adequate resources to provide the financial services covered by the license."
For the second entity, the suspension lasts until March 27, 2024, and is due to failure to "lodge annual financial statements and audit reports." ASIC also emphasized that if the company does not fulfill its qualification obligations by the end of this period, ASIC will consider canceling the license.
JB Markets has been using the AFS authorization since July 2008, whereas First City only obtained it this year, on April 15.
ASIC Publishes First Warning List
The suspension of the AFS licenses of two entities came a few days after ASIC, for the first time in history, published its own "Investor Alert List," following a practice common among other regulators. Initially, 77 names appeared on the list.
A few weeks earlier, the market watchdog revealed its actions against more than 2,500 investment scams and phishing sites. It implemented a feature to remove fraudulent websites, through which it has already removed 2,100 sites and placed another 400 sites in the removal process since July 2023.
The measures to combat investment fraud were taken after Australians reported a record loss of AUD3.1 billion in 2022 due to scams, of which AUD1.5 billion were lost due to investment fraud.
