ASIC has banned Mr Wayne Meadth from providing financial services for one year after he was found to not be adequately trained or competent to provide financial services.
Mr Meadth was an employee of Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ) from 2004 to March 2014 and ANZ lodged a breach report with ASIC regarding Mr Meadth.
ASIC's investigation found that during 2012 and 2013, Mr Meadth failed to provide 11 clients with written documentation of his recommendations about their investment portfolio. The clients had paid for a package which included an annual review service and required a planner, on an annual basis, to review a client's objectives and strategy and provide written documentation of the planner's recommendations.
ASIC Deputy Chairman Peter Kell said, 'ASIC expects financial advisers to fulfil all of their obligations to their clients. Failure to do so is unacceptable.'
Mr Meadth has the right to appeal to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal for a review of ASIC's decision.
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 standards by 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. For example, as part of its Wealth Management Project, ASIC has banned the following advisers from the financial services industry, in addition to Mr Meadth:
- Hardik Bhimani (refer: 16-124MR)
- Gerard McCormack (overturned on appeal: 16-448MR)
- Shane Thompson (refer:16-022MR)
- Ben Rickman (refer:16-006MR)
- Ben Cheung (refer: 16-004MR)
- Mark Tidbury (refer: 15-383MR)
- Amanda Ritchie (refer: 15-294MR)
- Stuart Murray Jamieson (refer:15-288MR)
- Sharnie Kent (refer: 15-286MR)
- Alfie Chong (refer: 15-259MR)
- Martin Hodgetts (refer: 15-218MR)
- Shawn Hickman (refer: 15-213MR)
- Brett O'Malley (refer: 15-121MR)
- Brian Farber (refer: 15-178MR), and
- Rebecca Locksley (refer: 15-070MR).
Editor's note:
On 23 June 2016, Mr Meadth made an application to the AAT to review the banning order decision.
Editor's note 2:
On 23 December 2016, the application was withdrawn.