ASIC has cancelled the Australian financial services (AFS) licence of Winley Insurance Group Pty Ltd (Winley) for failing to comply with a number of its key obligations as a financial services licensee.

In particular, ASIC found that Winley:

• failed to lodge financial statements, auditor reports and auditor opinions over consecutive years, in breach of both its legal obligations and licence conditions, despite repeated demands from ASIC to comply; and
• failed to advise ASIC in writing when it became aware of this significant breach.

Winley Insurance Group is a general insurance brokerage firm based in Perth, Western Australia. It offered a range of both business and personal insurance to its clients.

ASIC Deputy Chairman Peter Kell said, 'The annual lodgement of audited accounts is an important part of a licensee demonstrating it has adequate financial resources to provide the services covered by its licence and to conduct the business lawfully.

'Be clear, ASIC will act on failures to lodge financial statements, resulting in the suspension or cancellation of the AFS licence', Mr Kell said.

The cancellation of Winley's AFS licence is part of ASIC’s ongoing efforts to improve standards across the financial services industry.

ASIC's investigation into Winley is continuing.