iSignthis fined $10m for breaching Australian disclosure laws

Former MD and CEO Nickolas Krantzis penalized $1m for breaching his director duties, amongst other reasons.

Australia’s federal court has ordered iSignthis Ltd to pay a $10m penalty for breaching disclosure laws.

iSignthis provides remote identity verification, transactional banking, and payment processing services.

The business is said to have engaged in a number of contraventions of the law between 2018 and 2020, according to a statement by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC). It was delisted from the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) on 4 November 2022

iSignthis’ former managing director and CEO Nickolas John Karantzis was also disqualified from managing corporations for six years and was penalized $1m for breaching his director’s duties, and for failing to ensure that information given to the ASX was not false or misleading.

“‘Mr Karantzis’ tendency to try to minimise the seriousness of his conduct and in some respects to justify it is troubling,” stated Justice Timothy McEvoy of Australia’s federal court.

“The community is entitled to expect that investors will not be misled, the market operator will be respected, and that questions asked by the market operator will be answered accurately and devoid of spin and obfuscation,” McEvoy stated, according to ASIC.