The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has given a rap over the knuckles to the parent company of Australian Capital Markets Advisory Services for publishing misleading information on its web site.
The regulator said that the parent company, Formax International Market Limited, had been asked by ASIC to remove a previously published media release from its group website that falsely claimed Australian Capital Markets Advisory Services Pty Ltd had its Australian Financial Services Licence (AFSL) suspended as part of a normal practice that occurs whenever an enterprise restructures. The release also claimed that the suspension will be lifted once the restructure had been finalised.
ASIC declared today that the suspension by ASIC of an AFSL is not a normal practice that occurs when an entity restructures.
Commenting on the issue, ASIC Commissioner, Cathie Armour said: “ASIC undertakes all action for good reason. It is important that industry and investors understand those reasons. In this case, we were concerned to discover an overseas parent commenting in a way that misrepresented the action ASIC had taken and was likely to mislead investors.”
