ASIC Suspends HLK Group's Financial Services License

On July 2, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) announced that it had suspended the Australian Financial Services (AFS) license of HLK Group Pty Ltd (HLK Group) until December 27 of this year.

HLK Group has held AFS license number 435746 since May 31, 2013. Firms holding this license can provide a wide range of financial product services and advice to retail and wholesale clients.

However, according to ASIC, HLK Group has now ceased to conduct financial services business and is not receiving retail or wholesale clients.

It's worth noting that several Forex brokers complained by global traders were once the Authorized Representatives of HLK Group, such as AximTrade and GrapheneFx.

On August 2023, AximTrade was complained by several traders for withholding client funds for no reason. Investors in Southeast Asia were the most affected.

Although AximTrade is registered with the St. Vincent and the Grenadines Financial Service Authority (SVG FSA), the SVG FSA is not a Forex regulator. In other words, AximTrade is an unlicensed broker without authorization from any financial regulator.

Another broker, GrapheneFx, was also an Authorized Representative of the HLK Group. This broker had displayed false or misleading regulatory information on its website.