ASIC has banned John Louis Anthony Bigatton, of New South Wales, from providing financial services for seven years.
Between August 2017 and January 2018, Mr Bigatton was the Australian ³Ô¹ÏÍøÕ¾ Representative of online cryptocurrency platform known as BitConnect and a cryptocurrency investment scheme known as the BitConnect Lending Platform.
ASIC found that, in connection with his promotion of BitConnect and the BitConnect Lending Platform, Mr Bigatton provided unlicensed financial product advice and engaged in conduct, in relation to financial products and financial services, which was misleading or deceptive or was likely to mislead or deceive.
ASIC further found that Mr Bigatton:
- is not a fit and proper person to provide financial services;
- is not adequately trained, or is not competent, to provide a financial service or financial services; and
- is likely to contravene a financial services law.
The banning will be recorded on ASIC’s publicly available and the .
Mr Bigatton has the right to appeal to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal for a review of ASIC’s decision
ASIC’s investigation is continuing.
Background
In May 2019, ASIC updated Initial coin offerings and crypto-assets () to help businesses involved with initial coin offerings (ICOs) and crypto-assets to consider their legal obligations and satisfy themselves they are operating lawfully.
Moneysmart.gov.au has information for investors on the risks of currencies.
ASIC recently issued a Scam Alert after observing a rise in crypto-asset (or cryptocurrency) scams during COVID-19: .
