ASIC hands down ban for unlicensed advice

On Wednesday, ASIC slapped Mark Bringans, the former responsible manager of over-the-counter derivatives provider Sirius Financial Markets, with an eight-year ban.

Sirius Financial — trading as Trade360 — was previously found to have acted unconscionably and breached its Australian financial services licence obligations by failing to address the conduct of Toyga Media, an offshore call centre hired to source clients to trade in its high-risk contracts-for-difference and margin foreign exchange contracts.

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The regulator said that Toyga had engaged in pressure selling tactics and provided personal advice on behalf of Sirius Financial when it was unlicensed to do so.

“In banning Mr Bringans, ASIC found that he is not adequately trained and competent, that he is not a fit and proper person to provide financial services, and that he ignored one of his key duties as a responsible manager, which was to ensure that Sirius Financial complied with the financial services laws,” the regulator said.

“ASIC also determined that Mr Bringans was a disinterested, disengaged responsible manager who did little more than attend monthly compliance committee meetings.”

Mr Bringans has applied to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal for a review of ASIC’s decision. His application for a stay of the implementation of the banning order was refused.

The regulator previously banned two former executives of Sirius Financial, Jonathan Schneider and Oskar Pecyna, from controlling an entity that carries on a financial services business or performing any executive or management role in relation to a financial services business for eight years.

Both Mr Schneider and Mr Pecyna have also applied to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal for a review of ASIC’s respective decision.