The Federal Court found Cigno Australia and BSF Solutions engaged in credit activity without an Australian credit licence and charged consumers prohibited fees, with directors Mark Swanepoel and Brenton Harrison also involved in the breaches, ASIC reported.
“ASIC has taken regulatory and enforcement action over many years to respond to various business models used by entities connected to Cigno Australia, BSF Solutions, Mr Swanepoel and Mr Harrison,” ASIC Deputy Chair Sarah Court (picture above) said in a media release.
“We took this action because we were concerned that the Cigno Australia and BSF Solutions ‘no upfront charge loan model’ provided short-term loans totalling over $34 million and charged over $70m in fees to more than 100,000 consumers between July 2022 and December 2022.”
The court ordered Cigno Australia and BSF Solutions to stop recovering further fees, charges, or other amounts, including late payment fees and principal amounts.
A further case management hearing is scheduled for June 21 to consider additional relief, including adverse publicity orders and civil penalties.
ASIC began civil penalty proceedings on Oct. 3, 2023 against Cigno Australia, BSF Solutions, and their directors for allegedly providing credit without a licence.
Previously, ASIC took action against related parties Cigno and BHF Solutions, whose lending model was found unlawful in June 2022.
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