The Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) has reduced the length of a banning order made against Hobart-based financial planner Troy Williams that prohibited him from providing financial services.
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) had imposed a permanent ban on Williams in September 2016 after he had held himself out as having formal academic qualifications in financial planning that he did not have.
He lied about his qualifications from 2003 until it was discovered in 2015 and also forged certificates of educational achievement to back up his story, ASIC said.
On July 13, 2018, the AAT reduced Williams’ ban from providing financial services to six years, commencing 30 September 2016, the date of ASIC’s original decision.
In making the decision, AAT deputy president Bernard McCabe said he was not persuaded that evidence amounted to a reason to believe Williams had enduring defects in his character.
“In all the circumstances, I am satisfied there is no longer reason to believe the applicant is not of good character,” he said.
McCabe emphasised that he did not disagree with the decision ASIC made at the time.
“At that point, the statements before the delegate in conjunction with the evidence of the dishonesty were more than enough to justify the decision. But the case has evolved as the applicant’s insight into his own behaviour has changed,” he said.
