ASIC bans former ANZ AR



The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has banned a former ANZ authorised representative.
The regulator announced today that it had banned Ben Cheung of Epping, NSW, from providing financial services for 10 years after finding he had contravened financial services laws, and was not adequately trained or competent to provide financial services.
The ASIC announcement said its investigation had found that between April 2013 and March 2014, Cheung engaged in misleading and deceptive conduct by forging signatures of clients on statements of advice, investment instruction forms and an investment withdrawal form; creating false bank documents, namely ANZ Advisor Diary Notes; and creating false documents, namely Nil Advisory Service forms.
Commenting on the banning, ASIC Deputy Chairman, Peter Kell said cracking downon such behaviour went to the heart of maintaining consumer trust and confidence.
"The banning of Mr Cheung demonstrates ASIC's Wealth Management Project is identifying and tackling this kind of fraudulent behaviour," he said.
The ASIC announcement noted that Cheung has appealed to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal for a review of ASIC's decision.
Recommended for you
With the final tally for FY25 now confirmed, how many advisers left during the financial year and how does it compare to the previous year?
HUB24 has appointed Matt Willis from Vanguard as an executive general manager of platform growth to strengthen the platform’s relationships with industry stakeholders.
Investment manager Drummond Capital Partners has announced a raft of adviser-focused updates, including a practice growth division, relaunched manager research capabilities, and a passive model portfolio suite.
When it comes to M&A activity, the share of financial buyers such as private equity firms in Australia fell from 67 per cent to 12 per cent in the last financial year.