Australian Court Rules in Favour of Watchdog in Case Against Kraken’s Australian Operator
The Federal Court of Australia on Friday ruled that Bit Trade Pty Ltd, the operator of cryptocurrency exchange Kraken in the country, had violated a section of the Corporations Act. The case was brought against Bit Trade by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC).
According to section 994B of the Corporations Act, any issuer of a financial product must first make a “target market determination” before offering the product to consumers.
Justice Nicholas found that by offering its product to retail clients without making a target market determination beforehand, Bit Trade had breached section 994B(1) of the Corporations Act, in conjunction with section 994B(2).
ASIC also stated that Bit Trade had been offering its “margin extension” product to customers on the Kraken exchange without a target market determination since October 5, 2021, which is required by law.
