ASIC claims first broker scalp
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has claimed a first scalp in its war against unregistered insurance brokers.
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has claimed a first scalp in its war against unregistered insurance brokers.
Victorian-based Elvis Korcari has had his registration revoked for five years. Kor-cari operated his business initially under the name Dandenong Insurance Brokers and later as VIP Insurance Brokers.
While Korcari was first registered as an insurance broker in February 1999, ASIC found he had been operating as a broker prior to gaining registration. Furthermore, ASIC contends he concealed broking fees from clients in breach of the Insurance (Agents and Brokers) Act 1984 and “had assisted certain clients to enter into pre-mium loan arrangements to enable them to pay both their insurers’ premiums and the concealed broking fees”. Korcari was also responsible for the misconduct of his employees and agents, according to ASIC.
Last November, ASIC announced a crackdown on insurance brokers not independ-ently registered. At the time, director of ASIC’s office of consumer protection Pe-ter Kell warned “…people who claim to be insurance brokers, but who are not registered can expect ASIC to take prompt enforcement action to prevent these abuses of law”.
The move followed investigations by ASIC last year which revealed more than 300 people advertising as insurance brokers in the Yellow Pages were unregistered.
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.
