ASIC shuts down adviser for churning
TheAustralian Securities and Investments Commission(ASIC) has removed a West Australian planner from the industry for four years after he agreed to an enforceable undertaking not to act as a financial planner.
Michael Bradley Curtis, previously withCommonwealth Bank Financial Services, took on the undertaking after ASIC found he had transferred the superannuation funds of more than 70 clients between Colonial investment products, to maximise the commission that he would receive.
Curtis was an authorised representative of Commonwealth Bank Financial Services, formerly Colonial Financial Services, and worked as a financial adviser from 1994 up until last year.
During that time Curtis received approximately $190,000 in commissions through his action which Colonial in turn reimbursed to Curtis’ affected clients. However Curtis has since had to repay Colonial.
In placing the four year ban ASIC says Curtis will not be entitled to become a representative of an Australian Financial Services Licence (AFSL) holder again unless he successfully completes the Diploma of Financial Markets course offered by the Securities Institute of Australia (SIA), or a similar and equivalent course approved by ASIC.
This ban is the latest in a spate of recent activity against advisers, with ASIC imposing a growing number of temporary bans, permanent bans and criminal charges in the last two months.
Dealer groups Lifespan Financial Planning and RetireInvest have also come under ASIC’s spotlight in the past week, after the regulator expressed concerns about the groups’ disclosure and compliance procedures.
As a result, RetireInvest has given an enforceable undertaking to ASIC, while an additional condition has been imposed on Lifespan’s dealers licence.
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