ASIC wins case against Harvey Norman in the federal court over interest-free finance advertising campaign [Video]

The nation’s corporate regulator has won its case which alleged Harvey Norman misled consumers with an advertising campaign for interest-free finance.

The Federal Court has ruled the leading Australian retailer and Latitude Finance Australia engaged in misleading conduct and made false or misleading representations with a widespread advertising campaign for a 60-month interest-free and no-deposit payment method.

The advertisements were published between January 2020 and August 2021.

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) was concerned the advertisements masked the fact consumers were required to take out a credit card, such as the Latitude GO Mastercard, to purchase goods.

ASIC deputy chair Sarah Court said the regulator took this case on the belief that many consumers may have been unaware of the financial arrangements they were entering into …