ASIC has cancelled or suspended twenty-one Australian credit licences for failing to be a member of the Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA).
Australian credit licence holders are required by law to be a member of AFCA. AFCA membership gives consumers access to a free, fair, and independent dispute resolution scheme if a complaint is not properly considered or resolved by a credit licensee. AFCA provides consumers and small businesses with an alternative to tribunals and courts to resolve complaints.
ASIC works with AFCA to identify financial services licensees and credit licensees that do not comply with their obligation to maintain their AFCA membership. Where an entity fails to comply, ASIC will take action to cancel or suspend their credit licence.
In the period 1 April 2022 and 9 December 2022 ASIC cancelled or suspended the credit licences of the following:
- Umziwam Pty Ltd ACN 600 963 102 (ACL number 477353)
Licence cancelled 14 April 2022 - Paul Michael Motors Pty Ltd ACN 006 729 424 (ACL number 433318)
Licence cancelled 2 June 2022 - Firstsource Advantage LLC ACN 161 544 181 (ACL number 432754)
Licence cancelled 9 June 2022 - Underwood Car Finance Pty Ltd ACN 072 872 470 (ACL number 388282)
Licence cancelled 20 June 2022 - Asia Pacific Finance Pty Ltd ACN 160 327 159 (ACL number 430078)
Licence cancelled 22 June 2022 - Fiduciary Funds Management Pty Ltd ACN 083 635 509 (ACL number 389404)
Licence cancelled 7 July 2022 - Nikki Jayne Bedggood-Forsyth (ACL number 504529)
Licence cancelled 12 July 2022 - First Mortgage Home Loan Pty Ltd ACN 087 968 901 (ACL number 394815)
Licence cancelled 13 July 2022 - Sooner Solutions Pty Ltd ACN 120 795 182 (ACL number 387700)
Licence cancelled 19 July 2022 - Covesta Finance Pty Ltd ACN 619 473 746 (ACL number 499834)
Licence suspended 19 July 2022 - Thy Mai Nguyen (ACL number 366238)
Licence cancelled 9 August 2022 - Epping PFC Pty Ltd ACN 106 094 222 (ACL number 390754)
Licence cancelled 12 August 2022 - Capital-West Finance Pty Ltd ACN 009 32 958 (ACL number 482364)
Licence cancelled 23 August 2022 - Deposit Shop Pty Ltd ACN 114 500 702 (ACL number 425490)
Licence cancelled 24 August 2022 - Cani Management Pty Ltd ACN 054 632 030 (ACL number 395599)
Licence cancelled 25 August 2022) - W. Day and H.R El-Hassan ACN 981 762 954 (ACL number 395508)
Licence cancelled 31 August 2022 - Puyi Finance ACN 606 113 946 (ACL number 493360)
Licence cancelled 4 October 2022 - IPLAN Financial Solutions Pty Ltd ACN 160 227 958 (ACL number 428742)
Licence cancelled 9 November 2022 - Australian Mortgage Partners Pty Ltd ACN 035 591 464 (ACL number 395563)
Licence cancelled 9 November 2022 - Kingston Capital Services Australia Pty Ltd ACN 612 569 794 (ACL number 495606)
Licence cancelled 9 December 2022 - Thi My Hien Dang (ACL number 403 549)
Licence cancelled 9 December 2022
Background
Under the National Credit Act, ASIC has the power to cancel or suspend credit licences.
On 1 November 2018, AFCA was formed to provide external dispute resolution services for consumers that have unresolved complaints with entities providing financial and credit services. AFCA deals with complaints about financial firms including banks, credit providers, insurance companies and brokers, financial advisers, managed investment schemes and superannuation trustees.
As part of their general conduct obligations, all Australian financial services licensees and ACL holders are required to obtain AFCA membership. Failure to maintain AFCA membership is grounds for ASIC to cancel or suspend a licence.