ASIC cancels AFSL of Perth advice firm
ASIC has cancelled the Australian financial services license (AFSL) of a Perth-based advice firm Ballast Financial Management.
The cancellation of the AFSL became effective on 17 June 2025.
In a statement, ASIC said: “The AFS licence was cancelled after ASIC became aware that Ballast had ceased to carry on a financial services business. ASIC may suspend or cancel an AFS licence if the licensee ceases to carry on a financial services business under section 915B of the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth).”
Ballast was authorised to carry on a financial services business and provide financial product advice to both retail and wholesale clients.
Ballast has the right to appeal to the Administrative Review Tribunal for a review of ASIC’s decision.
This is not the first time that Ballast has come under ASIC's scrutiny as it had previous seen its license suspended for 10 weeks in October 2020 after it was unable to obtain professional indemnity insurance to comply with its obligation to have adequate compensation arrangements.
In January 2020, ASIC imposed a five-year ban on one of the firm's advisers who was the responsible manager and director of the firm. Wayne Blazejczyk was banned from providing financial services for five years for failure to meet best interests obligations when providing advice on self-managed super funds (SMSFs).
This followed an ASIC surveillance of advice provided by Blazejczyk which found he had recommended that his clients set up SMSFs with low superannuation balances. As a result of this advice, he exposed his clients to financial harm because the ongoing SMSF costs were higher than the costs of their existing superannuation fund.
As of 30 June 2025, Blazejczyk is showing as 'ceased' on the Financial Adviser Register with the data showing his action as an adviser ceased in December 2019 and has not restarted.
AUTHOR
Laura Dew
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