QLD adviser banned for three years
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has banned Mark Alexander Rothnie for three years for failing to act in the best interests of his clients and failing to provide appropriate advice.
The Queensland adviser was banned as a result of work ASIC undertook as part of its Life Insurance Lapse Data (LILD) Project and data provided to ASIC by life insurers led to further investigation of a number of advisers, including Rothnie.
The surveillance was conducted while Rothnie was an authorised representative of Australian financial services licensee (AFSL) GPS Wealth Limited.
ASIC found he had failed to properly investigate and document his clients’ relevant financial and personal circumstances, leading to inadequate advice.
He also did not give proper consideration to clients’ existing insurance products before recommending to switch them which resulted in clients being worse off.
The banning would be recorded on ASIC’s publicly available Financial Advisers Register and on the Banned and Disqualified Persons Register.
Recommended for you
Government has introduced a bill to Parliament to legislate the first stream of the QAR reforms.
ASIC now has a 1:1 ratio when it comes to court success in the enforcement of crypto activities and more action is expected as Treasury seeks to introduce a regulatory framework.
A leading governance body has hit out at “specialist interest groups proposing ad hoc law reform” when it comes to reforms of financial services legislation and believes an independent body is needed.
The release of ALRC’s final report into financial services legislation has highlighted financial advice as a “significant” focus as it seeks to reduce costs and help advisers understand their obligations, alongside the Quality of Advice Review.