ASIC has banned Daniel Gerard Manley from providing financial services for five years.

ASIC found that Mr Manley engaged in conduct that was misleading or deceptive, or likely to mislead or deceive, clients and employees of Wilson Advisory and Stockbroking Limited (Wilsons).

Mr Manley's conduct led to trading in Exchange Traded Options on two clients' accounts without their instructions.

Mr Manley also made representations that were misleading or deceptive, or likely to mislead or deceive, clients and employees of Wilsons in that he:

• advised one client of an incorrect cost to close out their options trading account and that they were completely out of options when this was not the case;
• advised a second client of an incorrect balance in their options trading account and that he had taken steps to transfer the trading account balance to the client's bank account when this was not the case; and
• provided Wilsons with false documents purportedly signed by each of the clients that requested that details of their email addresses be changed.

ASIC also found that Mr Manley engaged in conduct that resulted in the falsification of order records Wilsons was required to keep.  Mr Manley made entries in Wilson's IRESS Order System that showed he had received instructions from his two clients regarding the placement of orders when this was not the case.

ASIC Commissioner  Cathie Armour said, "Financial advisers operate in a position of trust and are expected to act with honesty and integrity in relation to their clients and the financial entities they represent.  Appropriate enforcement action will be taken by ASIC against financial advisers who fail to do so."  

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

Background

Exchange Traded Options are a type of derivative considered to be high risk investments.  A call option is the option to buy the underlying shares whereas a put option is the option to sell the underlying shares.  Selling options to open a position is a high risk strategy in which the potential for losses is unlimited in the case of a sold call. 

Mr Manley was employed by Wilsons between January 2011 and February 2015.