Australian Financial Complaints Authority receives high volume of complaints about KP International Group

The Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA) has earlier today published a notice about KP International Group Australia Pty Ltd, as the dispute resolution body has received a high volume of complaints regarding services allegedly provided by the firm. The complaints have been launched by consumers who have been unable to withdraw funds from their trading accounts.

KP International Group Australia Pty Ltd argues that an unrelated and unknown entity has fraudulently used its company name, and it denies providing a financial service to the customers.

AFCA explains that it is only able to consider complaints about financial firms that are its members. Although KP International Group Australia Pty Ltd is currently an AFCA member, it is unclear if the entity used by customers is also an AFCA member.

AFCA has referred the matter to the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) because the allegations are made against an Australian Financial Services (AFS) Licence holder.

AFCA advises any customer with a concern about accessing their trading funds through KP International Group Australia Pty Ltd to delay lodging a complaint until any further information is available. In the meantime, AFCA encourages consumers to contact their bank or financial institution to protect their account funds.

Let’s recall that, on October 23, 2019, ASIC announced the suspension of the AFS licence of KP International Group Australia Pty Ltd. The suspension is implemented in response to ASIC concerns about KP International not adequately addressing systemic issues identified by the Financial Ombudsman Service (now known as Australian Financial Complaints Authority or AFCA). Furthermore, the regulator was concerned that certain exclusions in KP’s professional indemnity insurance cover did not meet minimum adequacy requirements.