The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has banned a former state manager for Paterson Securities from providing financial services after it found he had engaged in dishonest conduct and in misleading or deceptive conduct over a two year period.
ASIC said it had permanently banned Lewis Fellowes, of Darch, Western Australia in relation to actions involving six clients over the July 2008 to July 2010 period.
ASIC stated Fellowes transferred more than $480,000 of client funds from their margin lending accounts into his personal account and that of his wife without the knowledge or authorisation of those clients. The regulator also stated that he transferred $1,000,000 from a client's bank account to his own.
ASIC said it made the decision to permanently ban Fellowes after it found that based on his conduct in relation to the six clients he was not of good fame and character within the meaning of section 920A(1)(d) of the Corporations Act.
Fellowes first provided financial advice in Queensland as a client advisor with Morgans from 1995 and then moved to Tolhurst in 2007 which merged with Paterson Securities in 2009. He moved to Perth in 2010 with Patersons where he held the role of Western Australia manager of retail operations.
ASIC investigated Fellowes after Paterson Securities submitted a report which suggested misconduct by Fellowes in his time at Tolhurst prior to its merger with Paterson.
He has since returned the funds to his former clients and has the right to appeal to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal for review of ASIC’s decision.
