The Federal Court of Australia has ordered Oztures Trading Pty Ltd, trading as Binance Australia Derivatives, to pay a A$10 million (about $6.9 million) penalty after admitting it misclassified more than 85% of its Australian client base and exposed retail investors to high‑risk crypto derivatives without required protections.
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) said 524 retail investors were wrongly treated as wholesale clients between July 2022 and April 2023. Those clients later incurred A$6.3 million in trading losses and paid A$2.6 million in fees. Binance admitted in a statement of agreed facts to multiple compliance failures, including not providing product disclosure statements to retail clients, not making a target market determination, and not maintaining a compliant internal dispute resolution system.
The A$10 million penalty is in addition to around A$9 million in compensation Binance’s local derivatives unit was ordered to pay affected clients in November 2023. Court documents and ASIC’s media release provide further detail.
Binance did not immediately respond to Cointelegraph’s request for comment.
This is a developing story; further information will be added as it becomes available.
Cointelegraph is committed to independent, transparent journalism. This article is produced in accordance with Cointelegraph’s Editorial Policy; readers are encouraged to verify information independently.