The Australian Securities and Investments Commission has issued a gag order to Melbourne-headquartered Bitcoin Group Limited ahead of the company's prospective initial public offering. <\/p>\n
The corporate watchdog on Friday announced it had issued a stop order to prevent the company making public statements about an IPO on the ASX until it lodges a prospectus. <\/p>\n
\"ASICs concerns relate to publications posted by the company via a social media application 'Wechat' seeking expressions of interest from potential investors to subscribe for shares if there is a proposed listing on the Australian Securities Exchange,\" an ASIC statement said. <\/p>\n
\"The publications were made before Bitcoin Group Limited was registered as an Australian company by ASIC and before the lodgement of a formal disclosure document (e.g. a prospectus). ASICs understanding is that the company particularly targeted potential investors from the Chinese community.\" <\/p>\n
ASIC described Bitcoin Group Limited as a Bitcoin miner. The company's website says it offers educational services and works \"with a number of retail exchanges and OTC traders to provide procurement services, providing emergency liquidity when a larger than expected buy or sell order is beyond their capacity to service.\" <\/p>\n
\"ASIC will often review pre-prospectus advertising or publicity to ensure legal requirements are being met,\" ASIC Commissioner John Price said in a statement. <\/p>\n
\"This is because any statements made about a potential offer may influence the investment decisions of consumers who will not have the benefit of all material information that would be included in a prospectus. <\/p>\n
\"ASIC expects companies to be fully aware of their obligations regarding advertising or publicity that occurs before making a regulated disclosure document available to investors. If they do not observe these requirements, then ASIC will take necessary action so that investment decisions are made in a confident and fully informed environment.\" <\/p>\n
ASIC said that normally a stop order would be published on its website and in fundraising documents lodged with it. However in this case ASIC issued a public media statement because no documents have been lodged with it yet. <\/p>\n
Read more CoinJar launches Hedged Accounts for users to lock in Bitcoin prices <\/p>\n
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Excerpt from: The Australian Securities and Investments Commission has issued a gag order to Melbourne-headquartered Bitcoin Group Limited ahead of the company's prospective initial public offering. Continue reading
\nBitcoin Group runs afoul of ASIC over social media<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"