Tasmanian financial planner Brendan Moore could still escape criminal conviction when he is sentenced by a Federal judge on November 2, even though he pleaded guilty to the charge of not giving four of his clients statements of advice (SOA).
The authorised representative of Financial Services Partners made the guilty plea last week in the Hobart Magistrates Court, in regards to the offences which took place in the second half of 2004.
The controversial action against Moore is being prosecuted by the director of public prosecutions (DPP) on behalf of the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), which has come under fire from quarters of the financial planning industry for coming down too hard on Moore by pushing for prosecution.
If he is not convicted, ASIC said a non-conviction bond could be handed down when Moore reappears in November if the Magistrate believes significant extenuating circumstances, such as past behaviour, outweigh the seriousness of the offence.
“A criminal conviction would be extraordinarily detrimental to Brendan’s future,” said FSP managing director Geoff Rimmer. “He was acting on client instruction [when he switched the four client’s super] and when we’ve gone back and examined the circumstances of what was going on at that time, we really believe [ASIC’s action] inappropriate.”
ASIC deputy director of compliance Allen Turton said: “In the end this will be a matter for the Magistrate. With super switching, it’s very important that people do get an SOA …at the end of the day the law provides that it is a strict liability offence. Our job is not to make the law, it is to enforce it.”
Moore’s guilty plea yesterday ended a spate of delays in the case, which was adjourned three times in the past five months by both Moore’s defence team and the corporate regulator, as they vied to convince the DPP to either drop or prosecute the case.
The affair attained notoriety when FSP managing director Geoff Rimmer earlier in the year revealed that his planner was experiencing a tough turn in his personal life when the offences took place, and that the four clients, who were two couples, and suffered no financial hardship, requested to have their super switched and still expressed happiness with Moore’s level of service.
