Australian Securities and Investments Administration (ASIC) fines BPS Financial $9.3 million for misleading advertising of Qoin Wallet.

PANews reported on January 27 that, according to Cointelegraph, the Federal Court of Australia has ordered financial services company BPS Financial to pay a fine of AU$14 million (approximately US$9.3 million) for violations in promoting and operating its Qoin Wallet product. Of this, approximately US$1.3 million is for operating a financial business without a license, and US$8 million is for making misleading and deceptive statements.

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has accused BPS of violating the Corporations Act by issuing the product and providing financial advice without an Australian financial services license between January 2020 and mid-2023. The court found that senior management of the company was involved and that its compliance system was deficient, constituting "serious and unlawful conduct." In addition to a fine, BPS is prohibited from operating a financial business without a license for the next 10 years, must publish court-required notices on its Qoin Wallet app and website, and will bear most of ASIC's litigation costs.