Australian securities regulator ASIC announced on Friday that the Federal Court had ordered record penalties totalling $300.2 million against collapsed CFD issuer Union Standard International Group Pty Ltd and its former authorised representatives, Maxi EFX Global AU (trading as EuropeFX) and BrightAU Capital (trading as TradeFred).
The penalties follow the court’s December 2024 findings that the three entities, which operated under USG’s AFS licence, engaged in systemic unconscionable conduct, misleading and deceptive conduct, and unlicensed personal advice between 2018 and 2020. Customers of EuropeFX and TradeFred lost over $83 million during that period.
The court found that the businesses profited directly from customer losses by taking the opposite side of trades and used remuneration structures that incentivised account managers to pressure clients into depositing more funds. The entities also targeted inexperienced or vulnerable customers during onboarding.
The case also addressed USG’s conduct in offering services to customers in China, where the court found USG failed to warn customers about potential criminal and civil liability under Chinese law.
“This outcome sets an important precedent for Australian based financial services licensees providing services such as margin forex trading to overseas customers under their AFS licence where such offerings are prohibited,” ASIC Deputy Chair Sarah Court said in December 2024.
USG entered voluntary administration in July 2020. ASIC commenced proceedings in December 2020.
