The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has appealed its court loss against Finder Wallet, a sister company of Australian fintech company Finder.com, over its "Earn" product, which was found by a federal court last month.
ASIC had previously argued that the for-profit Finder Wallet product operated without the proper license or authorization. However, on March 14, Federal Court Judge Brigitte Markovic dismissed the case, finding that ASIC had not established that the Finder Wallet Earn product constituted a "debt security" under which companies promise to repay borrowed money with interest - in accordance with the Corporations Act.
In its April 10 filing, ASIC argued that Judge Markovic "erroneously" adopted this finding because there was no deposit of money or loan to Finder Wallet when the investor used the Finder Earn product.
"ASIC has appealed the decision because it is concerned that the Finder Earn product was offered without proper licensing or authorization, and therefore without the benefit of valid consumer protections," ASIC argued in a separate April 10 statement.
The appeal will be heard by the Full Federal Court by a date to be determined. The court hears appeals from the Federal Court in "sufficiently important" cases. It is the second highest court after the High Court of Australia.
