Compliance & Ethics

ASIC has secured further NSW Supreme Court orders to protect assets held in the Deckchair Trust after discovering Christopher Edwards purportedly changed the trust's trustee shortly after provisional liquidators were appointed to his associated companies. This escalation—joining Edwards personally to the proceedings—signals ASIC's intent to pursue individuals who attempt to circumvent asset preservation orders through trust and corporate structuring maneuvers.

The FCA has issued updated guidance clarifying who must register under the Money Laundering Regulations (MLRs) to provide cryptoasset services in the UK, ahead of the new regulatory regime launching on 25 October 2027. Compliance teams at firms offering cryptoasset exchange, custodian wallet, or marketing services to UK customers should urgently assess registration obligations, given historically low approval rates and high withdrawal/rejection rates.

The FCA has added Finsbury Markets to its Warning List, confirming the firm is not authorized to provide or promote financial services in the UK. Compliance teams should treat this as a consumer protection and financial crime alert, ensuring no business relationships, referrals, or payment flows connect to this entity.

ASIC's latest Financial Advice Update covers professional year guidance, reference checking compliance gaps, inadequate professional indemnity insurance among licensees, poor-quality superannuation advice, and the qualifications standard, alongside a lengthy list of enforcement actions involving the Shield and First Guardian Master Funds. Compliance teams at AFS licensees must urgently review PI insurance adequacy, reference checking processes, and adviser registration and qualification status, as ASIC has demonstrated active surveillance and a willingness to take licence cancellation and banning action against non-compliant firms and individuals.

This ASIC Gazette issue (No. A36/26, dated 8 September 2026) is a routine administrative publication listing company reinstatements, deregistrations, changes of company type, and standard instruments issued under the Corporations Act 2001. It contains no new policy guidance or regulatory obligations of substantive compliance significance beyond the standard notification of rights of review process, but compliance teams should still review listings for any entities relevant to their client or counterparty due diligence.

ASIC has banned Garry Crole, former director and responsible manager of Interprac Financial Planning and former Sequoia Financial Group CEO, from financial services director and responsible manager roles for 10 years. The ban stems from his failure to respond to known concerns about authorized representatives' advice models and inadequate oversight of the approved product list, which included the now-collapsed First Guardian and Shield Master Funds. This action underscores ASIC's continued focus on individual accountability for licensee oversight failures connected to superannuation advice misconduct.

The FCA has issued a clone firm warning regarding "nevexglobal," an unauthorized entity falsely claiming to represent the genuine, FCA-recognized Global New Discovery Fund. Compliance teams at financial institutions should note this alert to update fraud-prevention monitoring, client-facing warnings, and due diligence checks against fraudulent entities exploiting legitimate firm credentials.