Ex-Macquarie adviser banned
Queenslander, Brett O'Malley, has been banned from providing financial services for five years after the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) found he had engaged in unauthorised discretionary trading on nine client accounts.
O'Malley was a representative of Macquarie Equities Limited (MEL) from December 2009 to January 2013.
An ASIC investigation found that between February 2010 and November 2012, O'Malley, had engaged in discretionary trading on clients' accounts, despite MEL prohibiting such activity since 2004.
ASIC stated that O'Malley breached the financial services laws by holding out and representing to those clients that he was authorised by MEL to operate discretionary trading account in circumstances where he was not.
ASIC also found that the Queensland-based adviser had created records on behalf of clients that falsely indicated that he had provided advice to the clients prior to trading when he had not, in circumstances where he had engaged in unauthorised discretionary trading.
MEL has commenced a review process to compensate clients of O'Malley for any losses suffered as a result of his conduct as part of a broader client remediation process, which has been undertaken by MEL as agreed under an enforceable undertaking accepted by ASIC in January 2013.
Recommended for you
Sharing his reasoning in joining the FSC board, WT Financial chief executive, Keith Cullen, believes “product and advice cannot be separated” from each other in the current environment.
The Emerge Foundation, a charity run by financial advisers and fund managers, has announced a scholarship program to help veterans transition into tertiary education.
In an open letter, Sequoia chief executive Garry Crole has hit out against shareholders “with a personal axe to grind” as he fights for his job ahead of an EGM.
The JAWG has announced it is in talks with Treasury around five “core principles” to strengthen the education standards for new entrants to the financial advice space.