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.
