Former Macquarie Equities adviser banned

ASIC/macquarie/financial-advice/ban/law/Financial-Services/Wealth-Management-Project/wealth-management/

17 August 2016
| By Malavika |
image
image
expand image

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has banned a former Macquarie Equities Limited (MEL) authorised representative from providing financial services for five years as part of its Wealth Management Project.

ASIC banned Nicholas Kerr from Queensland after finding he carried out unauthorised discretionary trading on his client accounts, provided inappropriate advice, and generated false records.

MEL had banned its representatives from engaging in discretionary trading on behalf of clients since 2004. Discretionary trading is where a client authorises the financial adviser to invest on their behalf without requiring their directive before each transaction.

However, it was found Kerr, who was a representative of MEL from 2008 to 2013, engaged in discretionary trading on five client accounts, hence breaching financial services laws.

He deceived clients into believing he was authorised by MEL to run a discretionary trading account when he was not.

ASIC also found Kerr created false records that showed he had advised clients before trading when he had not.

MEL reported Kerr's conduct to ASIC.

Kerr's ban came after ASIC also banned three other MEL representatives in 2015 as part of its Wealth Management Project, including Ben Rickman, Shawn Hickman, and Brett O'Malley.

The project focused on the conduct of advisers in institutional firms, including Macquarie, AMP, NAB, Westpac, CBA, and ANZ.

Read more about:

AUTHOR

Recommended for you

sub-bgsidebar subscription

Never miss the latest news and developments in wealth management industry

MARKET INSIGHTS

So we are now underwriting criminal scams?...

2 months 3 weeks ago

Glad to see the back of you Steve. You made financial more expensive, not more affordable as you claim, and presided ...

2 months 4 weeks ago

Completely agree Peter. The definition of 'significant change is circumstances relevant to the scope of the advice' is s...

4 months 4 weeks ago

ASIC has suspended the Australian Financial Services Licence of a Melbourne-based financial advice firm....

1 week 5 days ago

The corporate regulator has issued infringement notices to three AFSLs whose financial advisers provided personal advice to a retail client while unregistered....

2 weeks 4 days ago

ASIC has released the results of its first adviser exam to be held in 2025, with 241 candidates attempting the test....

3 weeks 2 days ago

TOP PERFORMING FUNDS

ACS FIXED INT - AUSTRALIA/GLOBAL BOND