The Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) has banned Pedro Eduardo Sasso, the director of Maxi EFX Global AU operating as EuropeFX, from being a director or controlling an entity offering financial services for five years.
Australian Court Sealed the Ban
Announced today (Thursday), the decision came as the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) refused Sasso's request for a stay and confidentiality orders. The regulator banned the director on 6 May, which led him to appeal the decision to the AAT on 8 May.
Sasso joined EuropeFX as one of its directors on 28 March 2018 and remained in the role until 20 September 2018. Since 30 April 2019, he has been the sole director of the company.
EuropeFX offered retail clients over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives products, including contracts for differences (CFDs). The company, however, did not issue the derivatives; instead, it was the corporate authorised representative (CAR) of former Australian financial services licensee Union Standard International Group (USG).
USG was one of the licensed venues for retail FX and CFDs trading in Australia. However, the platform entered into voluntary administration in 2020, followed by suspension and, ultimately, cancellation of its Australian Financial Services (AFS) licence. Currently, the company is under liquidation.
Not Fit for the Responsibilities
According to ASIC, Sasso had very little oversight of EuropeFX's operations and failed to take steps to address or mitigate any operational issues. He even abdicated his responsibilities for supervising and overseeing persons offshore without any monitoring structure. The regulator further highlighted that he did not take proper steps to address the clients' issues.
“ASIC found that it has reason to believe Mr Sasso is not competent to act as an officer of a financial services business nor a fit and proper person in this respect and should be banned from performing this function for a period of five years,” the regulatory announcement noted.
Meanwhile, the Cyprus unit of EuropeFX also renounced its licence at the end of 2021.
