ASIC extends suspension of license of BBY Ltd
ASIC has extended the suspension of the Australian Financial Services licence held by BBY until May 28, 2020.
The Australian Securities & Investments Commission (ASIC) today announces that it has extended the suspension of the Australian financial services (AFS) licence held by BBY Limited (BBY) until May 28, 2020.
The license of BBY Ltd, BBY Advisory Services Pty Ltd, and SmarTrader Limited was originally suspended on May 28, 2015. This followed the appointment of Stephen Vaughan and Ian Hall as joint administrators to these companies. Steven Parbery and Brett Lord were appointed receivers and managers of BBY and BBY Advisory.
On May 27, 2018, ASIC decided to extend the suspension for further 12 months.
The terms of the extended suspension allow the BBY AFS licence to continue in effect for the following purposes:
- to ensure that clients of BBY continue to have access to an external dispute resolution scheme;
- to ensure that clients of BBY continue to have access to the National Guarantee Fund;
- to ensure that the receivers and administrators have the legal authority to transfer a client’s “holder identification number” to another market participant with instructions from the client or to convert a licensee sponsored holding to an issuer sponsored holding in accordance with the ASX Settlement Operating Rules; and
- to ensure BBY continues to be required to have arrangements for compensating retail clients for loss or damages suffered as a result of breaches of the Corporations Act by the companies or their representatives.
BBY Ltd (BBY), the main operating entity of the BBY group, was a financial services licensee headquartered in Sydney with offices in Adelaide, Auckland, Brisbane, Gold Coast, London, Melbourne, New York, Perth and Wellington. BBY was also a market participant of ASX, Chi-X and SSX (formerly APX), and a clearing and settlement participant of the ASX.
The BBY group consisted of 10 entities and included two other financial services licensees: BBY Advisory Services Pty Ltd and SmarTrader Limited. ASIC notes that BBY was a market participant of ASX, Chi-X and SSX, and a clearing and settlement participant of the ASX. BBY was also a financial services licensee and was authorised under its licence to issue and make a market in derivatives and FX.
