Following ASIC concerns, Boca Global Financial Group Pty Ltd ACN 602 109 035 (Boca) has agreed to remove statements on its website suggesting Boca is ASIC regulated or authorised to provide financial services in Australia. ASIC became aware of such potentially misleading or deceptive website representations on the following website: https://www.bocafx.com.au/ 

Boca is neither currently authorised to provide financial services in Australia under an Australian financial services licence nor is it exempted from holding a licence.

Boca was previously appointed as a corporate authorised representative of Finsa Pty Limited (Finsa) on 23 January 2015. This appointment ceased on 29 September 2015. Even at the time Boca was a corporate authorised representative of Finsa, it would not have been able to lawfully provide some of the financial services in Australia advertised on its website. As an authorised representative Boca can only be authorised to provide a specified financial service 'on behalf of' a licensee, and not on its own behalf.

ASIC Commissioner Cathie Armour said, 'This is another example of an entity in the retail margin FX industry misrepresenting it is regulated by ASIC.'

'Industry participants need to be clear on the limitations of using a corporate authorised representative business model. Authorised representatives that purport to issue financial products on their own behalf will expose themselves to regulatory action for unlicensed conduct.'

'Authorised representatives that falsely market themselves as a product issuer will face regulatory action for misleading and deceptive conduct. Licensees that allow their authorised representatives to act this way may also risk regulatory action for failing to adequately supervise their representatives.'

Background

ASIC urges all investors to check they are dealing with an entity that is appropriately licensed or authorised in Australia and regulated by ASIC. This can be done by searching ASIC's Professional registers

This work continues ASIC’s focus on AFSL compliance in the retail OTC derivative sector, including margin FX, CFDs and binary options.

Recent outcomes include:

• Formax removing false statements about the suspension of its subsidiary's licence following ASIC concerns (refer: 15-336MR).
• Following ASIC's concerns Ingot Brokers (Australia) Pty Ltd rectifying its 'cash and cash equivalents' arrangements to comply with its financial resource requirements (refer: 15-333MR).
• O.C.M. Online Capital Markets Pty Ltd paying  $30,600 in penalties after ASIC issued three infringement notices for false or misleading online advertising (refer: 15-321MR).
• cancelling the Australian financial service licence (AFSL) of LSG Group Pty Ltd (refer: 15-293MR).
• British Virgin Island company FIBO Group Limited and Cyprus company, Trading Point of Financial Instruments Limited (also known by the trading name XM.com), agreeing to cease providing unlicensed financial services to Australians (refer: 15-233MR).
• suspending the AFS licence of Australian Capital Advisory Services Pty Ltd on the grounds it had ceased providing financial services after a change of control (refer: 15-217MR).
• following an investigation, Advanced Markets agreeing to change potential misleading statements on its website (refer: 15-085MR).
• following an investigation, suspending the AFS licence of FX provider AGM Markets Pty Ltd (AGM) (refer: 15-075MR).
• warning investors not to deal with Grandegoldens, which was not licensed to trade in margin FX in Australia (refer: 15-066MR).
• cancelling Enfinium’s AFSL because, among other things, concerns around inadequate risk management systems (refer: 15-026MR).
• following a surveillance, Calibre Investment changing the way it offers FX services to retail clients (refer: 14-327MR).
• restraining Monarch FX and its former director and general manager, Quinten Hunter, from carrying on a financial services business (refer: 14-342MR).
• shutting down Vault Market and removing its sole director, Mr MD Anamul Amin, from the financial services industry (refer: 14-309MR).
• warning investors not to deal with YoutradeFX which was not licensed to trade in margin FX in Australia (refer: 14-306MR).
• Pepperstone agreeing to stop providing financial services in Japan following inquiries by ASIC that revealed they were not licensed by the Japanese Financial Services Agency (refer: 14-267MR).
• cancelling the AFSL of online FX broker Global Derivative Services after an investigation found it failed to comply with a number of its licence obligations (refer: 14-226MR).