ASIC enforces five-year ban on Perth adviser
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has enforced a five-year financial services ban on Perth-based adviser, Philip Leake, following an investigation that found he had failed to act in his clients’ best interests when providing advice on life insurance.
The ASIC investigation, which looked at Leake’s client files from Wealthsure Financial Services between March 2015 and January 2018, found that the adviser failed to make a reasonable assessment of what life insurance products best suited his client.
The investigation found Leake had not considered his clients’ circumstances, nor what life insurance coverage they would need or could afford.
ASIC found that Leake made false and misleading statements in his statements of advice, which claimed that he had considered his clients’ circumstances in relation to the waiting periods for income protection when he had not.
The investigation resulted from ASIC’s Life Insurance Lapse Data Project, which was established in August 2016 and focused on the surveillance of life insurance advice.
AUTHOR
Anastasia Santoreneos
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.
