ASIC challenged on mislabelling law-breakers as ‘financial advisers’
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has been challenged to explain why it describes financial planning law-breakers as “financial advisers” when they are not.
The challenge was mounted by NSW Liberal back-bencher, Jason Falinski who asked ASIC to explain why a person who was not a financial adviser and who had not been included on the Financial Adviser Register (FAR) was being described as a “financial advisor” in an ASIC media release.
Falinski said he was referring to an ASIC media release issued on 5 November under the headline “Former financial advisor convicted and fined $30,000 for dishonest conduct”.
The ASIC media release said Mark Damion Kawecki, of Frankston, Victoria, had been convicted and fined $30,000 in the Melbourne County Court for engaging in dishonest conduct related to attempts to artificially satisfy the minimum spread requirement for companies seeking to be admitted to the ASX.
Falinski said that Kawecki was not a financial adviser and he wanted to know why ASIC was choosing to describe him that way.
“He is not a financial adviser and describing him as a financial adviser is not going to instil some necessary confidence in the financial planning industry,” he said.
ASIC commissioner, Danielle Press took Falinski’s question on notice, undertaking to find out why Kawecki had been described as a financial adviser if he was not one.’
Recommended for you
Advice firms are increasing their base salaries by as much as $50k to attract talent, particularly seeking advisers with a portable book of clients, but equity offerings remain off the table.
MLC Expand has appointed retirement specialist Andrew Long to work with advisers and licensees and drive growth for its recently launched retirement solution.
Despite banks largely having exited the industry, advisers under institutional licensees are least likely to switch while 26 advisers have been appointed to a licensee more than 10 times.
Insignia Financial has shared a progress update on the acquisition by US private equity firm CC Capital as well as the departure of a long-standing director.
