ASIC Cancels AFS Licence of Halifax Investment Services Following Suspending the Licence Twice

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) announced today that it has cancelled the Australian financial services (AFS) licence held by Halifax Investment Services Pty Limited (Halifax), which went into administration in 2018. 

The cancellation became effective as of 8 January 2021. Prior to that, the ASIC suspended the AFS licence of Halifax twice respectively in 2019 and 2020.

According to the terms of the AFS licence cancellation, the Halifax AFS licence is allowed to continue on a limited basis for another year until 7 January 2022, but only for the purposes of:

· ensuring that Halifax's clients continue to be able to access an external dispute resolution scheme;

· ensuring that Halifax continues to have arrangements for compensating its retail clients; and

· offering financial services to retail or wholesale clients of Halifax limited until the existing arrangements with clients terminates.

The Australian regulator has put these conditions in place to prevent the cancellation form adversely affecting past or current clients.