ASIC has imposed additional conditions on the Australian financial services (AFS) licence of Poynter Hargraves Financial Consultants Pty Ltd (Poynter Hargraves).

This follows a targeted surveillance by ASIC that found Poynter Hargraves had poor risk controls around conflict management and was not adequately monitoring and supervising its representatives. ASIC’s surveillance also found that some clients were provided with financial advice that failed to meet the best interests duty and related obligations.

The additional licence conditions require Poynter Hargraves to engage an independent expert to review and make recommendations on how its audit processes and conflict management can be improved. The independent expert must also pre-vet a sample of advice and report on the effectiveness of the improvements made by Poynter Hargraves.

Poynter Hargraves will also be required to remove its sole responsible manager and appoint one or more responsible managers with the necessary skills and experience.

AFS licensees are responsible for ensuring their representatives comply with financial services laws. ASIC expects licensees to have robust controls in place for managing conflicts of interest and adequate audit processes to monitor and supervise their representatives. AFS licensees should conduct sufficient periodic audits of all their advisers and use suitably qualified staff to conduct these audits.

Background

Poynter Hargraves Financial Consultants Pty Ltd has held AFS licence 237846 since 5 July 2010.

The licence conditions were imposed by consent following Poynter Hargraves’ engagement in addressing ASIC’s concerns.