ASIC has accepted an enforceable undertaking (EU) from Anthony Wilson, a former representative of Macquarie Equities Limited. Under the EU, Mr Wilson undertakes that he will not provide financial services on behalf of himself or any other person, for a period of four years.
ASIC was concerned that Mr Wilson's advice during the period 30 July 2007 to 30 June 2013 did not meet the standards required of a financial adviser and that he had failed to comply with financial services laws.
In particular, ASIC was concerned that Mr Wilson may have:
- misled clients into believing that he was authorised to undertake discretionary trading in circumstances where he was not authorised to do so;
- caused false entries to be made in Macquarie's trading system creating the appearance that he had spoken with clients before he executed trades; and
- failed to ensure the advice provided to his clients was appropriate given the clients' level of sophistication, risk tolerance and objectives.
Mr Wilson acknowledges that ASIC's concerns about his conduct are reasonably held.
The EU follows an ASIC review of the advice provided by Mr Wilson as part of ASIC's Wealth Management Project. ASIC has accepted the EU as an alternative to taking administrative action against Mr Wilson.
ASIC Deputy Chairman Peter Kell said, 'Consumers need to have confidence and trust in their financial advisors.'
'ASIC will use all regulatory means available to protect consumers from financial advisors who don't meet the standards expected by the community.'
Background
This outcome is a result of ASIC's Wealth Management Project. The Wealth Management Project was established in October 2014 with the objective of lifting the standards of major financial advice providers. The Wealth Management Project focuses on the conduct of the largest financial advice firms (NAB, Westpac, CBA, ANZ, Macquarie and AMP).
ASIC's work in the Wealth Management Project covers a number of areas including:
- working with the largest financial advice firms to address the identification and remediation of non-compliant advice; and
- seeking regulatory outcomes, where appropriate, against licensees and advisers.
As part of its Wealth Management Project, ASIC has banned 36 advisers from the financial services industry. Some recent examples include:
Discretionary trading is an arrangement by which a client gives a financial advisor the discretion to make investments on their behalf without the need to receive instructions from the client before each transaction. Under these arrangements, it is agreed that the financial advisor will use their investment expertise to generate a financial return for the client using the client's funds.
Mr Wilson's conduct was reported to ASIC by Macquarie Equities Limited.