ASIC Flags Onboarding Gaps at Nine Online Brokers

Australia's corporate regulator has warned that online brokers are steering retail investors into complex, high-risk products without clearly disclosing the risks or running proper onboarding checks, leaving Australians exposed to products that could wipe out their money within hours.

The warning, published by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) on 13 August 2026, follows a targeted surveillance of nine entities offering short-dated exchange traded options, futures and fractional shares. The review ran from March through June 2026.

Contents

01

What the Review Examined

02

The Gaps ASIC found

03

Which Firms Were Reviewed

04

What Happened Next

05

Investor Resources

What the Review Examined

ASIC's surveillance looked at nine online brokers selling short-dated exchange traded options, futures and fractional shares. Some providers offer fee-free or discounted trading, or incentives such as cash vouchers or airline reward points, to encourage retail investors to trade.

ASIC Commissioner Simone Constant said sign-up incentives can distract from investment risks and could encourage impulsive trading decisions. She noted that short-dated exchange traded options and futures use leverage, meaning losses can be magnified and accumulate quickly, within hours or days.

The Gaps ASIC found

The regulator identified deficiencies in some entities' target market determinations, including insufficient detail on how products met the likely objectives, situations and needs of clients. ASIC also found onboarding shortcomings, including limited tailoring of questions to client circumstances and repeated or unlimited attempts to pass onboarding questionnaires.

On disclosure, ASIC found unclear client disclosure that failed to explain the risks and costs of fractional trading, including ownership arrangements, investor rights or whether a holding could be transferred to another platform.

Which Firms Were Reviewed

ASIC's release lists nine entities: Interactive Brokers Australia Pty Ltd, Moomoo Securities Australia Ltd, Sharesies Australia Limited, Stakeshop AFSL Pty Ltd, tastytrade Australia Pty Ltd, Tiger Brokers (AU) Pty Limited, Totality Wealth Limited, Trading 212 AU Pty Ltd and Webull Securities (Australia) Pty Ltd.

The regulator stressed that its findings are thematic, not attributed to individual entities, and did not apply to every entity reviewed.

What Happened Next

ASIC said five entities improved their compliance practices, including two that stopped onboarding options clients during remediation. One entity has exited the Australian market since the review.

The regulator is considering further regulatory or enforcement action. Simone Constant said entities offering complex or high-risk products must ensure their products are distributed to the right target market throughout the client relationship.

Investor Resources

In response, ASIC's Moneysmart released new information and created four new webpages covering exchange traded options, futures contracts, fractional share trading and micro-investing, and reviewed the futures glossary page.