ASIC confirms licensee attempt to hire banned adviser
At least one licensee has attempted to hire a banned adviser and has found his efforts rejected by the checking mechanisms put in place by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC).
The regulator has confirmed to a Parliamentary Committee that a licensee attempted to register an adviser who was banned but that the problem was detected by ASIC’s processes.
“ASIC has processes in place to detect this type of event and prevent appointment of banned or disqualified individuals,” the regulator told the Parliamentary Committee.
“When a licensee submits a request to appoint an authorised representative or financial adviser an automated check is performed by ASIC systems that flags any potential matches with persons currently on the banned and disqualified register,” it said.
“These flags alert an ASIC staff member who manually checks the relevant appointments against ASIC systems. If the check confirms they are not on the banned and disqualified register, the appointment proceeds.
“If the check confirms the person is currently banned or disqualified the appointment is rejected and a notification email sent to the appointing licensee.”
The ASIC answer made clear that it was not unusual for advisers to return to the industry as authorised representatives after their banning had been completed.
Recommended for you
The FSCP has announced its latest verdict, suspending an adviser’s registration for failing to comply with his obligations when providing advice to three clients.
Having sold Madison to Infocus earlier this year, Clime has now set up a new financial advice licensee with eight advisers.
With licensees such as Insignia looking to AI for advice efficiencies, they are being urged to write clear AI policies as soon as possible to prevent a “Wild West” of providers being used by their practices.
Iress has revealed the number of clients per adviser that top advice firms serve, as well as how many client meetings they conduct each week.
