Advice businesses who went down owing AFCA
Most of the financial advice companies named by the Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA) as having failed to pay complaint-related charges had already been named and dealt with by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC).
The Authority this week named 29 member firms which it said owed a combined total of $1.745 million in outstanding charges, but the likelihood of the firms paying or worrying about breaching their AFCA membership requirements seems remote in circumstances where most are already out of business.
Most notable among those named was Dover Financial Advisers which closed its doors in controversial and still-disputed circumstances last year while others such as Jade Capital Partners had its license cancelled by ASIC in January and MacKellar Financial Services had its licence cancelled in April and Australasia Wealth Service and Management had its licence cancelled in June, this year.
Halifax Investment Services, which was also named in the AFCA list, went into administration late last year with its AFSL having been suspended until January, 2020 while the company owning one of the largest amounts, Over The Counter Derivative issuer, Berndale Capital Securities had its license cancelled in November 2018. ACFA showed it as owing $364,230.
However, still in operation and shown as owing $157,755 was Equitable Financial Solutions, as was North Sydney-based financial planning outfit, QWL was shown as owing $16,515.
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.
