Investor club feels heat from ASIC
Australian Investors Forum Limited (AIF) has agreed to cease all investment advi-sory activities following action taken by Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC).
Australian Investors Forum Limited (AIF) has agreed to cease all investment advi-sory activities following action taken by Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC).
Australian Investors Forum was operating as an investor club, with about 400 members paying an annual fee to receive information relating to upcoming share issues.
It has been alleged that AIF may have been operating in breach of the Corporations Law. Although all investment advice was provided to its members by proper authority holders of licensed dealers, AIF was not a licensed entity. Following the receipt of several queries regarding the status of AIF, ASIC was concerned the group may have created the impression it held a securities licence in its own right.
AIF says it will apply for its own securities licence. Until this time, it has accepted an enforceable undertaking from ASIC to contact its members offering them a re-fund on their membership fees or, alternatively, transferring their membership to licensed entity Midland Securities Limited.
AUTHOR
Samantha Walker
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