Banning order of ex-NAB aligned adviser reinforced
The Administrative Appeals Tribunal of Australia (AAT) has refused to revoke a five-year ban on a former Meritum Financial Group authorised representative after he was banned by the corporate regulator for failing to adhere to the Corporations Act.
Alfie Chong had applied to have his five-year ban from financial services industry revoked but the Administrative Appeals Tribunal of Australia refused, citing ‘the protection of the public' as a reason.
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) banned Alfie Chong on 4 September 2015 from providing financial services for five years, as it found he broke the law "by cutting and pasting client signatures on to an authority to proceed", "he failed to have a reasonable basis for at least two of his clients", and "on at least three occasions, failed to provide clients with a SOA [statement of advice]".
The tribunal received Chong's application to revoke his ban in February 2016.
His application said: "ASIC decision to ban me from providing financial services for the period of five years was unfair, prejudice (sic) and there was no client that had suffered any financial loss".
The AAT in Perth quashed Chong's application to have the ban lifted on 26 May, as they said his conduct "involved repeated/systematic compliance failures" and that he also did not show any "obvious remorse or insight" into the consequences of his misconduct.
They added that Chong's ban would have a "strong protective effect for the public", and reinforced the integrity of the financial services industry, and that it would also maintain the standards of the profession.
"The imposition of a banning order for three to 10 years is appropriate in Mr Chong's case. More specially, the tribunal finds that the imposition of a five-year banning period is appropriate," the tribunal concluded.
Recommended for you
Digital advice tools are on the rise, but licensees will need to ensure they still meet adviser obligations or potentially risk a class action if clients lose money from a rogue algorithm.
Shaw and Partners has merged with Sydney wealth manager Kennedy Partners Wealth, while Ord Minnett has hired a private wealth adviser from Morgan Stanley.
Australian investors are more confident than their APAC peers in reaching their financial goals and are targeting annual gains of more than 10 per cent, according to Fidelity International.
Zenith Investment Partners has lost its head of portfolio solutions Steven Tang after 17 years with the firm, the latest in a series of senior exits from the research house.
