AAT upholds SMSF adviser ban
Perth self-managed super fund (SMSF) adviser Wayne Blazejczyk will have his ban upheld as the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) has sided with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC).
Blazejczyk was banned in December 2019 from providing financial services for five years for failing to meet best interests obligations.
He had sought a review of the scope of ASIC’s banning order and considered that it should be limited to only prohibiting him from providing personal advice to retail clients.
However, he did not contest ASIC’s findings that he had breached a financial services law and conceded that a five-year banning period was appropriate.
The AAT was not satisfied that a limited banning order of the type proposed by Blazejczyk would provide sufficient general deterrence, nor was it satisfied that the proposed limited banning order would promote consumer confidence and professionalism in the financial services industry.
It was also not satisfied that a permissive banning order, which would allow Blazejczyk to engage in specific financial services activities, would be adequate to promote the protective objectives of the licensing regime.
The AAT affirmed ASIC’s decision to ban Blazejczyk on 2 November, 2020.
AUTHOR
Chris Dastoor
Recommended for you
The director of Ascent Investment and Coaching, Michael Dunjey, has been charged with 33 criminal offences.
Adviser Ratings’ latest financial landscape report finds there is a demographic of advice practices achieving an average revenue of $5 million, with only 3 per cent of practices overall seeing a revenue decline.
The FAAA is calling for regulators to take a partnership approach with financial advisers regarding incoming legislation, rather than treating the industry as “guinea pigs”.
There have been strong numbers of returning advisers this year so far, according to Wealth Data, already surpassing the same period for 2024.
