Bristol Street Financial Services, based in Queensland, has had its licence cancelled after an ASIC investigation found it had widespread non-compliance with a number of laws.
Between July 2016 and October 2017, ASIC conducted a surveillance operation on the group and found it had failed to comply with the conditions on its licence and failed to comply with financial services law.
ASIC also found the group had failed to take reasonable steps to ensure its representatives complied with the law and had failed to manage conflicts of interest.
Bristol Street was also found to have failed to have adequate resources to provide services and had failed to properly monitor and supervise its representatives.
The terms of the cancellation allow Bristol Street to continue for the purposes of ensuring that its clients continue to have access to an external dispute resolution scheme and it will retain professional indemnity insurance until early December 2019.
Not sure how relevant a this financial review might be. But cancelling AFSL could be an extreme measure but also super funds should be put online as they the retirement wealth of Australia.
https://www.afr.com/brand/chanticleer/apra-will-no-longer-tolerate-poor-performing-super-20181212-h191v0?&utm_source=Linkedin&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=nc&eid=socialn:lnkdn-14omn0059-optim-nnn:nonpaid-27/06/2014-social_traffic-all-organicpost-nnn-afr-o&campaign_code=nocode&promote_channel=social_linkedin
There are good and bad advisors in a “bad” licensee. Each individual should be judged on their merits.
Ah the white shoe brigade again !!!What is it in Queensland ?. Seems an over representative of banning up their ? then again Storm etc as well .
Aren’t the Storm a Melbourne team?
Yes Michael, the Melbourne Storm have been the most successful QLD NRL team over the past few decades. They have also ran foul at times of the regulator (when owned by them).
Business imitating Sport imitating Religious Organisations imitating…? Where does it stop? (Rhetorical question. It doesn’t!)
It’s been said but geez,… the banks haven’t had their license suspended for five minutes.
I’m sure that ASIC is always balanced, objective, fair, even handed, measured, patient, commercially considerate, uses comprehensively substantiated material and evidence, is not swayed by external considerations [such as “directives” from the Big 4-6], politics, and self marketed public perception; and stringently takes into account consequential client damages [if any] when assessing AFSL conduct… like with Dover!
ASIC should not be the Regulator, Judge, Jury, and Executioner within the Financial Services Sector. At the very least, Consumer Protection needs to go back to the ACCC.
Going back 10-12+ years [pre GFC, since Academics and Consumer Activists infiltrated Management], its manipulated, “cherry picked” data, grossly biased “Reports” [“Churn” Report RC 413, LIF, and failure to oversee the ASX, anyone?], and “Ideological Activist Agenda” has been APPALLING, dishonest, ignorant, inadequate, destructive to THOUSANDS of small businesses, and the Sector itself. It is constantly trying to push its internal crap onto others.
You would think that [Heaven forbid!], ASIC is like a ideologically driven, Neo-Marxist “CYA” publicly funded University or PC Government Department!
Well well well… Looks like we have some Accountants dabbling in the Financial Planning world! $99 tax returns, and some financial advice with that!
ASIC should be releasing specifically what the compliance issues were, so that the Industry knows where they can improve (if needed). We now a pay fee to ASIC to “monitor” us, so they should actually provide us with more information – like a fee for service.
could not agree more Peter Pell let’s see what happens to AMP for the criminal behaviour they should be shut down, it is great they are getting onto cowboys like these guys, but why the hell anyone thinks that AMP and the banks are of any higher quality is beyond me.
The big guys have already been crunched by the Royal Commission and will probably have Enforceable Undertakings to correct their problems – the smaller dealer groups or non-aligned practices that don’t have the resources to fix the issues will probably have their licences removed – prepare for new auditing procedures from ASIC in the new year.
If a licensee doesn’t have the resources to fix their issues then they absolutely should be shut dowm!
Exactly my point Peter Pell – I bet this AFS didn’t do half the things CBA did yet their license gets cancelled and CBA are allowed to continue without disruption??? ASIC only bullies the SME licnesees because they can’t fight back!
The fact is you don’t know, but you’re still more than happy to have a rant about it? I don’t know where people get this notion of ‘poor little AFSL’s just trying to do the right thing”. Did you ever stop to think that these AFSL’s are the banks on steroids? No real governance, no real compliance, just a gordon gekko boiler room?
We all know ASIC has limited resources and it is well known within the industry that if you’re a small AFSL and you come to the attention of ASIC let alone manage to get yourself banned, then you are likely among the worst of the worst. Why you somehow consider these AFSL’s to be your brothers in arms is beyond me.
Once again, how much worse was this than anything the BIG 4 or AMP have done….low hanging fruit to pad out an ASIC report. Its all about numbers.
Once again, whatever they might or might not have done, small business is attacked by ASIC. Given that Narev and Comyn clearly knew about the insurance rip off which reportedly was netting CBA $150million profit per annum and given that Narev was clearly unapologetic “temper your sense of justice”, both these people are clearly not “fit and proper persons” as required by Corporations Act and should be banned for life. Not just the profit, but every cent of premium gouged in this unsavoury affair should be returned to affected consumers. In fact given ASIC actions to cancel AFSL of smaller players, a gouge of $150 million plus should, in a just and fair world, lead to cancelletion of CBA AFSL. Fat chance!!
So a 15 month surveillance followed by a 13 month negotiated outcome and we only hear now, if ASIC was concerned about Bad Apple representatives jumping ship and joining other dealer groups why has it taken 13 months for them to come to a decision to cancel the AFSL. If the activities are heinous enough to warrant cancellation of the AFSL then action should have been taken 12 months ago.
100% correct. This is a breakaway group of AAA Financial Intelligence and now all the advisers have found new homes including the director who was a director of AAA. SMH.
You are not 100% correct, if you are referring to James Harman I was not a director of AAA Financial Intelligence and I left in March 2010, AAAFI was closed by ASIC in February 2013.
ASIC would never take this action against CBA or AMP.
This is a disgrace. How do ASIC justify cancelling the AFSL of these guys when the banks are allowed to get away with anything without serious penalty.
Why cant there be one set of rules, compliance, education standards for everyone dealing with each range of financial products. Eg, SOA’s and BID for all superannuation/pension and insurance sales.
I wonder what would happen if the banks decided to murder every 5th customer. Our politicians would probably make them write an appology letter and donate a few hundered thousand to a charity.
But the real question is would the bank continue to charge the murdered client their fees…lol.
Haha! Extreme but probably true. One rule for some, one for others. Disgusting that the perpetrators AND the authority has not been called over this.
Do you have personal knowledge of what they did to justify license cancellation and why this is such a disgrace? Get away with anything without serious penalty? How about paying about 15 YEARS! of total advice profit in the form of compensation and remediation? As opposed to just shutting down your shack and starting a new one under the wife’s name next week?
if you think a backyard chop shop AFSL is somehow hard done by vs the major institutions, your’re not just mistaken, your’re delusional.
of course not, PeePee. cba and amp have deep pockets,but Bristol Street Financial Services (based in Queensland) barely own a worn out footy team mad monday mankini! get the difference? big banks/amp can compensate, have been, will continue too! Bristol Street Financial Services (based in Queensland) can not.
why all the nuffies here keep say ”big banks/amp, whoa, whoa, whoa…”, is weird. it’s basic business kiddies. get with the program (remediation programs that is…)!