ASIC has permanently banned Brenton John Poynter of Baulkham Hills, NSW, from providing financial services.

Mr Poynter was an authorised representative of Charter Financial Planning Ltd (Charter) from June 2010 to June 2016 and provided financial advice regarding superannuation products to a number of elderly clients.

ASIC found that from January 2015 to June 2016 Mr Poynter deducted a total of $39,700 in fees from ten clients’ investment accounts for financial advice which he had not provided. Mr Poynter personally received a benefit of $25,610 from these transactions.

ASIC’s investigation also found that Mr Poynter directed three clients of Charter to deposit a total of $26,990 directly into his personal bank account for financial services he had not provided.

Charter and Mr Poynter’s practice has refunded advice fees charged to the relevant clients following an internal investigation of Mr Poynter’s conduct.

Mr Poynter’s banning will be recorded on ASIC's Financial Advisers Register. 

Mr Poynter has to the right to apply to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal for a review of ASIC's decision.

Background

The banning of Mr Poynter is part of ASIC's Wealth Management Project. The Wealth Management Project was established in October 2014 to lift 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
• seeking regulatory outcomes, where appropriate, against licensees and advisers.

As part of its Wealth Management Project, ASIC has banned 41 advisers and one director from the financial services industry. Three bannings are subject to appeal, with a further banning stayed pending the outcome of an appeal.