TheAustralian Securities and Investment Commission(ASIC) has permanently banned a formerWestpacproper authority holder from acting as an investment advisor or representative of a dealer group.
Danh Van, a 33-year-old adviser from Fairfield in Sydney, was banned for life after misappropriating approximately $885,000 of clients’ funds.
Van had held a proper authority from Westpac Bank from October 20, 1998 to August 21, 2002 and was employed by the bank as an investment adviser in its Cabramatta branch.
ASIC says Van took advantage of language difficulties experienced by clients from his local Vietnamese community when he misused their investment authorisations.
In July this year, Westpac learned of Van’s misappropriation and referred the matter to ASIC.
According to ASIC, Westpac has compensated all clients affected by Van’s actions.
