Risk agent banned for life
After taking more than $150,000 from 100 of his clients, Mayfield-based risk agent Phillip Paddison received a permanent ban from the financial services industry, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has announced.
Paddison, who was the sole director of Risk Transfer Services, allegedly failed to forward clients' insurance payments to its licensee Insurance Advisernet Australia (IAA), also failing to ensure his clients were adequately insured.
As a result, IAA paid approximately $100,000 to ensure all affected clients had their insurance cover either reinstated or adequately replaced.
Paddison received a life ban after ASIC found there was reason to believe he would not comply with the law in the future.
"We want to make sure that people providing financial services act with integrity and honesty and, if they don't, we will take action to make sure they are removed from the industry," said ASIC Commissioner Greg Tanzer.
The regulator commenced its investigation after IAA's compliance team detected various breaches during a risk management review.
Paddison has the right of appeal to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal for a review of ASIC's decision.
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