The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has cancelled the Australian financial services licence (AFSL) of embattled Halifax Investment Services.
The cancellation took effect from 8 January, 2021, but the terms allowed the licence to continue on a limited basis until 7 January, 2022 for the purpose of:
- Ensuring that clients of Halifax continued to have access to an external dispute resolution scheme;
- Ensuring that Halifax continued to have arrangements for compensating retail clients, including the holding of professional indemnity insurance cover; and
- Providing financial services to retail or wholesale clients of Halifax limited to the termination of existing arrangements with clients.
These conditions had been put in place so that the cancellation did not adversely affect past or current clients.
On 8 January, 2019, ASIC suspended the Halifax AFSL until 10 January, 2020.
Under the Corporations Act, ASIC had the power to suspend or cancel an AFSL without holding a hearing in situations where the AFSL was held by a body corporate that was placed under external administration, or that was being wound up.
The company still had a right to seek a review of ASIC’s decision at the Administrative Appeals Tribunal.
