ASIC accepts EU from securities dealer

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has accepted an enforceable undertaking (EU) from Halifax Investment Services after an investigation found deficiencies in the company’s risk management and compliance processes. 

Under the EU, Halifax must appoint an independent consultant to review its business and develop a plan to rectify the deficiencies. 

The independent expert will report to ASIC on a regular basis over the next 12 months on Halifax’s implementation of the plan. 

ASIC’s six-month long review found that Halifax had inadequate processes in place for supervising and monitoring authorised representatives. 

Specifically, the regulator flagged issues pertaining to:

• technological resources in place to supervise and monitor representatives
• oversight of the training and professional standards of representatives
• breach assessment and reporting processes
• complaints assessment and handling
• processes for the authorisation and publication of marketing materials
• procedures and practices in assessing counterparty risks. 

ASIC deputy chairman Belinda Gibson said the EU will require Halifax to reconsider the way in which monitors its representatives and “to create a culture where compliance is central to the services it provides”. 

Halifax will be required to consider the circumstances of a client who is found to have been adversely impacted by its conduct, and remediate the client where appropriate, ASIC stated.  

The EU follows recent action taken by the regulator concerning a Queensland-based securities dealer and its breach of conditions pertaining to its Australian financial services licence.