ASIC bans Melbourne-based adviser for three years
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission has banned Melbourne-based financial adviser David Noel Ruthenberg from providing financial services for three years.
Ruthenberg operated through his own financial planning practice, which traded as Venture Advisory Consulting, and was an authorised representative of The FinancialLink Group Pty Ltd (TFLG) at the time of the misconduct.
The three-year ban also prohibited Ruthenberg from managing, supervising or auditing the provision of financial services and from providing training about financial services and products.
ASIC found that, between June 2015 and September 2017, Ruthenberg recommended some of his clients invested in a high-risk fund, the Investport Income Opportunity Fund. Ruthenberg had a specific interest in the fund via personal borrowings and ASIC found that he failed to prioritise his clients’ interests above his own when recommending they invest in the Fund.
Further, the high-risk nature of the investment did not match his clients’ risk profiles or experience, and Ruthenberg was found to have failed to conduct a reasonable investigation into alternative financial products that could have met the clients’ needs.
The corporate regulator said the banning of Ruthenberg was part of its ongoing efforts to improve standards across the financial services industry.
Ruthenberg’s banning, effective from 3 August 2021, had been recorded on ASIC’s publicly available Financial Advisers Register and the Banned and Disqualified register.
On 4 August 2021, Ruthenberg lodged an application for review of ASIC’s decision with the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT). On the same day, he also applied to the Tribunal for a stay of ASIC’s decision.
Ruthenberg subsequently withdrew his application for review of ASIC’s decision, and the application was dismissed by the AAT on 10 June 2022.
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.