Australian Securities and Investments Commission v Financial Circle Pty Ltd [2018] FCA 2

FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA

Australian Securities and Investments Commission v Financial Circle Pty Ltd [2018] FCA 2 File number: VID 1367 of 2017

Judge: MOSHINSKY J

Date of judgment: 10 January 2018

Catchwords: CONSUMER LAW – misleading or deceptive conduct – unconscionable conduct – application by regulator for interlocutory injunction to restrain financial services licensee from carrying on a financial services business – where licensee offers to provide small value loans to applicants in financial difficulty – where regulator alleges that the licensee's website fails adequately to disclose that, in order to obtain a loan, an applicant must obtain and implement financial advice regarding insurance and superannuation and pay a substantial advice fee from their superannuation fund – whether interlocutory injunction should be granted CORPORATIONS – financial advice – best interests obligations – obligation of financial services licensee under s 961L of Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) to take reasonable steps to ensure that its representatives comply with ss 961B, 961G, 961H and 961J – application by regulator for interlocutory injunction to restrain licensee from carrying on a financial services business – where licensee offers to provide small value loans to applicants in financial difficulty in conjunction with the provision of financial advice regarding insurance and superannuation – where the applicant generally cannot obtain the loan unless he or she implements the financial advice and pays a substantial advice fee from their superannuation fund – whether interlocutory injunction should be granted

Legislation: Australian Securities and Investments Commission Act 2001 (Cth), ss 12CB, 12CC, 12DA, 12DB, 12DF, 12GD, 19 Corporations Act 2001 (Cth), ss 912A, 961B, 961G, 961H, 961J, 961L, 1041H, 1101B, 1324 National Consumer Credit Protection Act 2009 (Cth), ss 29, 177