ASIC bans financial adviser
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has banned a New South Wales financial adviser, Leonard Respinger, from providing financial advice for five years.
He was banned after an investigation into his conduct as a consultant of Hall Chadwick Corporate and director of Clear Star Holdings. Respinger was engaged as a consultant by Great Pacific Capital (GPC) between March 2002 and April 2003 to help the company list on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX). At the time, GPC was having difficulty obtaining the shareholder spread required to list on the ASX.
Respinger consequently asked his associates to encourage people they knew to fill in application and transfer forms for GPC shares and paid $100 for each completed form. Part of the money was sometimes passed on to the applicant.
Respinger advised the applicants to leave the purchaser details on the form blank, and the shares were paid for from an account held by a GPC director and transferred out of the applicant’s names using the completed transfer forms.
Respinger can appeal to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal for a review of the ASIC decision.
AUTHOR
Benjamin Levy
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