Australia ASIC sues eToro platform for inappropriately exposing clients to CFD product, DOJ goes after Binance

• Australian Securities and Investments Commission has sued eToro crypto trading platform.
• The financial regulator wants the platform  penalized for breaching design, distribution, and license obligations.
• The case hinges on the appropriateness of the platform’s  target market, with the authority questioning its screening test.
• The allegation comes after approximately 20,000 of eToro's clients lost money trading CFDs between October 2022 and June 2023.  

The Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) has levied charges against the eToro trading platform, going after its crypto trading wing for dishonest, inefficient, and unfair execution of its contract for difference (CFD) product. This comes as the US Department of Justice (DOJ) deliberates pursuing federal charges against Binance Exchange.

Also Read: US DOJ deliberates fraud charges against Binance, but concerns of implications to customers weigh over.

ASIC sues eToro crypto trading platform

While the US DOJ is debating whether to take the largest exchange by trading volume to court on fraud charges, the Australian ASIC has launched a Federal Court proceeding against eToro, going after the crypto trading platform's CFD product.

CFD, short for Contract For Difference, is a derivative contract and, therefore, a leveraged product used by customers to predict expected asset value changes.

The allegation comes after approximately 20,000 of eToro's clients lost money trading CFDs between October 5 2022, and June 14, 2023, with the website showing that 77% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with eToro.

Based on the ASIC's allegations, the crypto trading platform from eToro went against the expectations of its design, distribution, and license mandate, failing to "act efficiently, honestly, and fairly." Specifically, the case probes the platform's relevance to its identified target market, questioning its screening process and how it settled on the current retail clientele.

In pursuing the matter with the court, therefore, the ASIC concludes that the platform's customer base for the CFD product:

…was far too broad for such a high-risk and volatile trading product where most clients lose money and that the screening test was wholly inadequate to assess whether a retail client was likely to be within the target market.

As such, the commission wants eToro punished for deceptively exposing its retail clients to a significant risk of harm in the form of a CFD that was most definitely inconsistent with their "investment goals, financial situation, and needs."

Citing ASIC Deputy Chair Sarah Court:

Our message to the industry is that CFD target markets should be narrowly defined given the significant risk that retail clients may lose all of their deposited funds.

The deputy chair also instructed issuers to adhere to the design and distribution limits, sternly warning them not to modify their target markets to fit existing client bases. 

On this stance, the ASIC wants the court to issue declarations and pecuniary penalties against eToro. 

Exchanges under keen regulatory eye  

The ASIC's disappointment about eToro's alleged crime is profound, considering the trading platform's deep market penetration and the fact that it is a big brand expected to comply with local and international law. However, according to the US DOJ, such a status has not stopped the largest crypto exchange by trading volume, Binance, from committing fraud.

Nevertheless, the stakes are higher in the US, with the prosecution factoring in how a legal case could trigger a run-on, potentially harming Binance customers, akin to what happened to FTX exchange when founder Sam Bankman-Fried's (SBF) criminal actions commingling assets came to light. As a side note, the DOJ wants SBF jailed until trial in October.

With the DOJ choosing to prioritize customers, the case may take a completely different direction than what eToro is facing, but this is pending confirmation.

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