ASIC bans South Australian adviser for three years
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has banned South Australian financial adviser, Ramana Rao, from providing financial services for three years due to his lack of professionalism.
According to the corporate regulator, Rao demonstrated a lack of professionalism, judgement and integrity when advising some of his self-managed super funds (SMSF) clients.
ASIC found that Rao had advised one of his clients to obtain financial assistance by drawing out funds from their SMSF where the removal was not permitted by the Superannuation Industry Act 1991 or the SMSF’s trust deed.
In the eyes of ASIC, Rao failed to prioritise the interests of a client over his own by recommending that his SMSF client provide a loan to his business.
According to ASIC, Rao knew that such an investment was not a sound one.
ASIC also found, that in both instances, Rao failed to give his clients statements of advice.
Rao has the right to appeal to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) for a review of ASIC’s decision.
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