ASIC bans Tasmanian adviser for five years
The corporate regulator has banned David Horton from providing financial services for five years after finding that he was not competent and not adequately trained.
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) found Horton, who was an authorised representative of Meritum Financial Group, failed to provide financial advice that was appropriate and in the best interests of his clients and keep proper records.
ASIC found Hobart-based Horton provided a number of clients with inappropriate advice to double gear their investments while disregarding the clients’ relevant personal circumstances, cashflow position or ability to cover margin calls.
In 2017, Horton moved from Meritum to an administrative role at FF Planning Solutions and provided unlicensed advice to some clients.
Recommended for you
As the first quarter of 2024 comes to a close, Money Management looks back on the corporate regulator’s bans and AFSL cancellations in the financial advice sector.
Insignia Financial is holding ‘relatively steady’ onto its rank as Australia’s second-largest financial advice licensee after the Godfrey Pembroke exit but Count is hot on its heels.
Liberal senator Slade Brockman has said the government needs to have a “cold hard look” at the level of regulation in the financial advice space and the costs of running a business.
FAAA chief executive, Sarah Abood, has warned changes in the first tranche of the QAR legislation around advice fees documentation could create more work for advisers rather than less.