Helio Lending sentenced for falsely claiming it held an Australian credit license

Helio Lending has been sentenced to a non-conviction bond by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission for falsely claiming it held a credit license in the country.

According to ASIC, Helio falsely claimed it had a credit license in a news article on its website in August 2019 while offering cryptocurrency-backed loans using crypto as collateral.

Helio pleaded guilty and will pay a fine. A second and related charge was withdrawn.

 "We expect entities and individuals to provide accurate information to their customers and potential customers," ASIC Deputy Chair Sarah Court said. "Helio falsely claimed that it held an Australian Credit license, misleading their customers to believe that they had the protections afforded by such a license."

On crypto regulation in Australia, Coinbase's chief policy officer Faryar Shirzad recently claimed that Australia must quickly introduce a crypto-related regulatory framework or legislation — as other competing jurisdictions have set clear time frames for regulation. This comes after the National Australia Bank blocked some payments to “high-risk” cryptocurrency exchanges in recent months in an effort to protect its customers.