ASIC bans WA adviser for four years
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has banned adviser Anthony Hilsley from providing financial services for four years after failing to comply with financial services law, including failing to provide financial advice in the best interest of his clients.
Hilsley, from Kelmscott in Western Australia, was most recently an authorised representative of Fiducian Financial Services but the ASIC surveillance covered his time when he worked at RI Advice Group which was owned by ANZ.
During the time in question, he did not identify or make sufficient enquiries into his clients’ personal circumstances, properly consider their objectives or, on occasion, consider their existing products when providing advice.
In one case, he recommended replacing superannuation and insurance products without taking the clients’ pre-existing medical condition into consideration.
As a result, a loading was added to the premium, which could have been avoided if Hilsley had considered the suitability of the client’s existing products to meet their ongoing insurance needs.
He has the right to appeal to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal for a review of the ASIC decision.
AUTHOR
Laura Dew
Recommended for you
Financial Services Minister Stephen Jones has shared further details on the second tranche of the Delivering Better Financial Outcomes reforms including modernising best interests duty and reforming Statements of Advice.
The Federal Court has found a company director guilty of operating unregistered managed investment schemes and carrying on a financial services business without holding an AFSL.
The Governance Institute has said ASIC’s governance arrangements are no longer “fit for purpose” in a time when financial markets are quickly innovating and cyber crime becomes a threat.
Compliance professionals working in financial services are facing burnout risk as higher workloads, coupled with the ever-changing regulation, place notable strain on staff.
