Three Former ASIC Regulated FX Firms Owe AFCA $837,800

The Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA) has named 29 financial firms which have failed to pay complaint-related charges this Monday. Among the named firms include three operating within the foreign exchange (forex) space.
By not paying the charges, the 29 named companies are breaching AFCA membership requirements, the authority highlighted in its statement published today. In total, the 29 members owe the agency a total of AU$1.715 million ($1.154 million) in outstanding charges.

“AFCA members are required by law to pay a membership levy, along with fees for every complaint received about them,” the authority stated.
with the highest amount owed to the authority are three forex firms which were formally regulated by the (ASIC) – AGM Markets Pty Ltd, Direct FX Trading Pty Ltd and Berndale Capital Securities Pty Ltd. Collectively, the three companies owe AU$1.245million.
Breaking this down, according to AFCA, AGM Markets owes AU$483,200, Direct FX Trading is in debt of AU$397,570 and Berndale Capital Securities has AU$364,230 outstanding.
ASIC cancelled FX firms’ AFS licences
As , the ASIC cancelled the Australian Financial Services (AFS) licence of AGM Markets, a global online forex broker, in November of last year. 
According to the regulator, the license was cancelled due to “unconscionable conduct and unmanaged conflicts of interest.” Specifically, the watchdog listed eight reasons why the license was cancelled.
In October of last year, the Australian regulator also of Direct FX Trading. ASIC noted in its statement at the time, that due to continued compliance failures from Direct FX, the regulator cancelled the firm’s licence on October 8, 2018. 
Following the cancellation of the licence, the Supreme Court of New South Wales, a state in Australia, placed Direct FX into external administration and appointed a liquidator on October 11, 2018.
Berndale also had its , but ASIC has also banned Stavro D’Amore from providing financial services for six years. D’Amore is a former director of Berndale and was the sole responsible manager and the key person on the AFS licence.
“AFCA has made numerous attempts to contact the financial firms to recover the amounts owing. AFCA is required as part of its public reporting requirements to publish the names of non-compliant members,” the statement said.