BRI Ferrier, the liquidator of the Union Standard International Group Pty Limited (USGFX), has published a circular on Monday, mentioning the recent court orders justifying the cessation of any further work regarding the closing out of open client positions.
A judge at the Federal Court of Australia issued the orders on December 16 upon a motion filed by the liquidators seeking such orders.
“We sought these orders primarily due to the obstructive conduct of the shareholder, Union Standard Group International Holdings Limited ('USG Holdings'),” BRI Ferrier noted.
“You will recall that USG Holdings, Mr. Soe Hein Minn, and/or parties acting for them, actively prevented our access and control of the trading Platforms, such that we were unable to give effect to the technical close out of the Client’s open positions as required by ASIC ’s AFSL conditions.”
Indeed, BRI earlier informed the brokerage clients about the non-cooperation from the shareholder that prompted it to begin the liquidation proceedings.
A Troubled Broker
The Australian broker’s troubles became public as it entered into voluntary administration in July. Then it highlighted that the step was forced upon it by the local financial market regulator, ASIC.
With the confirmation of the liquidation, ASIC cancelled the already-suspended license of USGFX. Additionally, the regulator sued the broker, along with its two former representatives, for illegally offering leveraged FX trading and other financial services to Chinese clients.
However, the liquidator assured that the latest order will not affect its role in the evaluation of creditors’ claims.
“A separate legal application is currently being formulated to deal with how the various classes of competing creditor claims can be quantified. This application is anticipated to be heard in the coming months,” the liquidator added.
Meanwhile, the Vanuatu-regulated subsidiary of USGFX recently informed its clients that it is facing regulatory hurdles in refunding its Australian clients who were migrated from the now-closed Aussie Trading Platform .
