Nauticus is pleased to announce that Nautica Group Pty Ltd has been appointed as an authorised representative of an Australian Financial Services (AFS) licensee, Fund Investment Projects Pty Ltd, AFSL number 487263.

It is regulated by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission which oversees the financial services industry in Australia (similar to the SEC in the US) and issues AFS licences to companies to provide financial services, as long as they meet certain strict requirements.

The authorisation means that Nautica Group Pty Ltd can provide financial services to clients by dealing in certain financial products.

“This is an important step towards the completion of our six banking and eCommerce solutions,” said CEO Bryan Ng. The authorisation comes at an opportune moment for Nauticus Exchange, with much debate internationally about the dividing line between digital tokens and securities.

ASIC has the authority to ban people and business from providing financial services if they don’t comply with licensing obligations, which is among its suite of powers to protect consumers from illegal activities and fraud. ASIC is also focused on misleading or deceptive conduct in the marketing and selling of digital or virtual tokens via initial coin offerings (ICOs). Because of this, ASIC helps ensure the protection of Nauticus Exchange users.

Australia has a number of international arrangements with other countries in the regulation of financial services providers and financial products, including a mutual recognition of securities regulation arrangement with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

“The news came just in time for the launch of Nauticus Exchange Beta,” said COO Jonathan Chang. “It positions us nicely with anticipating future changes to the laws surrounding blockchain based securities by being a part of the regulated environment, which will give some peace of mind to our current and future users.”

Nautica’s Australian Financial Services Representative number is 1266350.