ASIC ordered Bitcoin Group Limited (a proposed Bitcoin miner in Australia) to stop issuing any statements regarding its intention to make an IPO of its shares until it lodged a prospectus.
The regulator's concerns relate to the messages posted by the company via Wechat, a social media application, looking for expressions of interest from potential investors for subscribing to the shares if there is a listing on the Australian Securities Exchange. The posts were made before the company was registered by the ASIC as an Australian company and before the lodging of a prospectus.
ASIC Commissioner John Price said any statements made about a potential offer may influence the investment decisions of investors who will not have all the information that would be included in a prospectus.
"ASIC expects companies to be fully aware of their obligations regarding advertising or publicity that occurs before making a regulated disclosure document available to investors," he said. "If they do not observe these requirements, then ASIC will take necessary action so that investment decisions are made in a confident and fully informed environment."
