The Federal Court of Australia in Queensland has made orders in the proceedings brought by ASIC against Linchpin Capital, the holding company led by former Australian Financial Services (AFS) Group managing director Peter Daly which owns non-bank licensees Beacon, Libertas and RIAA.
According to court documents, seen by InvestorDaily, Linchpin has been restrained from “promoting or carrying on any financial services business in Australia”, “providing financial services advice” and “dealing in [and] promoting financial products”.
It has also been restrained from promoting the “unregistered scheme” which originally sparked ASIC’s ire and led to the commencement of proceedings by the corporate regulator.
The court also made a number of interim orders restricting Linchpin from incurring liabilities or making transactions relating to its property.
However, despite the order, an email from Linchpin directors to staff members and its adviser network, seen by InvestorDaily, explained there is no adverse impact for the company's financial advice subsidiaries.
"Whilst some restraints are in place, these only relate to Linchpin and Endeavour," Mr Daly wrote in the email. "It is business as usual for the other entities within the Group, specifically Beacon and our licences. In fact the Court and ASIC made clear during the hearing on 24 July that they were not seeking any relief as against those other entities."
Mr Daly also emphasised that these are interim orders and that the court is yet to make any judgment in the broader dispute with ASIC.
Supplementary submissions from both ASIC and Linchpin are due to the court today.
