Unlicensed adviser banned
The Federal Court has banned a Tasmanian-based company and its director from providing financial product advice following allegations they charged consumers up to $40,000 for unlicensed advice on securities and derivatives.
According to the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), Oxford Investments Tasmania and its director Steven Moore conducted a series of so-called ‘training courses’ on trading future contracts on the Sydney Futures Exchange despite neither holding a financial services licence.
More than a dozen people, most of whom live in or near Hobart, attended the courses between January 2004 and March 2006 and several agreed to pay up to $40,000 for the training and a supplementary computer software program.
ASIC alleges that Moore made recommendations that were intended to influence course attendees’ decisions on trading in securities or derivatives.
Court orders precluding Moore and Oxford from providing financial advice on securities and derivatives will remain in force until either another order is made or proceedings are concluded.
ASIC is seeking final orders restraining Moore and Oxford from providing any kind of financial advice in future as well as declarations that their conduct breached the consumer protection provisions of the ASIC Act.
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.
