ASIC slaps 4-year ban on former NAB adviser
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has banned former National Australia Bank (NAB) adviser, Graeme Ashley Cowper, from providing financial services for four years after finding he was not adequately trained or competent to do so.
Cowper had worked for NAB between 2007 and 2015, and subsequently transferred to Ipac Securities, a wholly-owned subsidiary of AMP Limited.
The ASIC investigation found Cowper had a fundamental lack of understanding of the duties and obligations imposed by the Corporations Act and gave inappropriate advice to a number of clients.
The panel found Cowper had recommended gearing strategies when the client could not afford it, and recommended clients switch to a new superannuation fund without giving sufficient detail in the statement of advice.
As well, the adviser failed to make client’s aware that the new superannuation fund was more expensive compared to the old fund, or that it included insurance that did not cover the client’s pre-existing health condition.
The administrative banning was the first decision made by ASIC’s new Financial Services and Credit Panel following a hearing before it.
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