Former financial adviser banned
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has banned Anthony Bishop of Chelmer, Queensland, from providing financial services for eight years.
The ban came about as a result of ASIC’s Wealth Management Project, which was established in October 2014 with the objective of lifting standards by major financial advice providers.
ASIC found that during the period July 2010 to April 2014, when he was an employee representative of Westpac Financial Consultants Ltd (a part of the Westpac Banking Corporation), Bishop was involved in the provision of inappropriate advice to clients and also involved in the failure to provide one client with a written statement of advice.
ASIC found that Bishop implemented a “one size fits all” advice strategy that didn’t tailor advice to clients’ personal and financial circumstances and led to clients being overinsured with inappropriate level of premiums.
Bishop was also found to have made one misrepresentation concerning tax savings and to not be competent to provide financial services.
ASIC deputy chair Peter Kell says: “Advice needs to be tailored to the client’s needs and circumstances, and an advice provider must not lose sight of the needs of their client.”
Bishop’s behaviour was originally reported to ASIC in May 2014.
A customer remediation process was undertaken and 29 former clients were paid a total of $1,127,543 made up of advice fees, refunds of premiums for inappropriate advice and market loss relating to investments.
The Wealth Management Project focuses on the conduct of the largest financial advice firms (NAB, Westpac, CBA, ANZ, AMP and Macquarie).
The project covers a number of areas including:
- Working with the largest financial advice firms to address the identification and remediation of non-compliant advice
- Seeking regulatory outcomes, when appropriate, against licensees and advisers.
The following advisers from the financial services industry have been banned as part of the Wealth Management Project, in addition to Bishop:
Rommel Panganiban
Anthony Jason Sourris
Sarah Kate Gardner
Nicholas Kerr
Craig Scott Miller
Wayne Meadth
Hardik Bhimani
Gerard McCormack
Shane Thompson
Ben Rickman
Ben Cheung
Mark Tidbury
Amanda Ritchie
Stuart Murray Jamieson
Sharnie Kent
Alfie Chong
Martin Hodgetts
Shawn Hickman
Brett O’Malley
Brian Farber
Rebecca Locksley
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