Permanent ban issued to Victorian insurance product referrer
The chief executive and national director sales and marketing of Melbourne-based Landlord Protection & Collection (LP&C) has been banned by the regulator for illegal arranging of contracts of insurance.
Tracey Joanne Burnell, who was previously banned in 2011 and convicted of criminal offences in 2014, is also the previous sole director of the companies Landlord Protection & Collection, which is under external administration, and the now deregistered Protection & Collection Pty Ltd.
ASIC considered Burnell’s conduct over the three years to 2017 and determined her conduct went beyond that of a referrer.
The regulator found that:
- Burnell has accepted payments from clients in relation to those insurance premiums into a LP&C bank account
- Burnell has issued invoices to clients for insurance premiums on LP&C stationery letterhead (and in some cases inflated the amount of the premium required to be paid by the client); and
- Had occasions, failed to pass on those payments of insurance premiums to the insurance brokers, with whom referral agreements were in place.
"Where people engage in financial services when unlicensed or engage in misleading and deceptive conduct, ASIC will ensure that they are excluded from providing such services in the future,” said ASIC acting chairman, Peter Kell.
The regulator said the investigation into Burnell’s conduct remained ongoing.
AUTHOR
Hope William-Smith
Recommended for you
Sequoia Financial Group has declined by five financial advisers in the past week, four of whom have opened up a new AFSL, according to Wealth Data.
Insignia Financial chief executive Scott Hartley has detailed whether the firm will be selecting an exclusive bidder for the second phase of due diligence as it awaits revised bids from three private equity players.
Insignia Financial has reported a statutory net loss after tax of $17 million in its first half results, although the firm has noted cost optimisation means this is an improvement from a $50 million loss last year.
With alternative funds being described as “impossible” for fund managers to target towards advisers without the support of BDMs for education, Money Management explores the evolving nature of the distribution role.
