ASIC cancels Trive Financial's AFSL as review into CFDs continues

ASIC has cancelled the Australian financial services licence (AFSL) of contracts for difference (CFD) issuer Trive Financial Services Australia, after determining the company was no longer carrying on a financial services business in Australia.

The licence cancellation took effect on July 1 and has been recorded on ASIC's Professional Registers. Trive retains the right to seek review of the decision through the Administrative Review Tribunal.

The decision follows ASIC's broader review of Australia's CFD sector, which examined 52 licensed issuers and uncovered significant deficiencies at several providers.

Trive was among the firms scrutinised during the industry-wide review. After ASIC identified serious shortcomings in the company's processes, Trive agreed to stop onboarding new retail clients in April 2025.

The regulator said improving outcomes for consumers investing in high-risk financial products remains a supervisory priority.

"Driving better outcomes for consumers of financial products and services, including high-risk products such as CFDs, is one of the ASIC's priorities for supervising market intermediaries," ASIC said.

The cancellation comes after ASIC announced in January its review of the CFD industry has resulted in almost $40 million being returned to more then 38,000 retail investors, alongside significant compliance improvements across the sector.

According to ASIC, the review led to stronger target market determinations, improved customer onboarding processes, enhanced reporting compliance and better monitoring of retail client trading outcomes.

Trive held an AFSL since July 2012. The company previously operated as ILQ Australia before changing its name to Fairmarkets Trading in 2018 and adopting the Trive Financial Services Australia name in December 2023.