Former director and financial adviser Troy Andrew Rodney Williams of Directions Wealth Management, an authorised representative of ANZ-aligned Financial Services Partners Pty Ltd (FSP), has been banned from providing financial services.
An ASIC investigation found that in the period from December 2003 to March 2015 Mr Williams acted dishonestly by providing Financial Services Guides to his clients that contained false statements in relation to his qualifications.
The guides falsely stated that Mr Williams held a Diploma of Financial Planning and that he had completed certain courses related to that diploma.
ASIC’s investigation also found that in December 2014, Mr Williams dishonestly created false certificates purportedly evidencing his qualifications and sent them to FSP.
After becoming aware of his actions, Financial Services Partners suspended his authority to provide financial advice on 10 March 2015. The authority was subsequently cancelled by Financial Services Partners on 20 April 2015.
Mr Williams has the right to appeal to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal for a review of ASIC’s decision.
What begs the question is how the clients will be compensated. Whether the advice was ‘good’ or not is irrelevant. They have paid advice fees to a person not licensed to take them. Should all client fees be refunded for the period the adviser was providing advice unlicensed? Should this person still be a share holder? While a ban is stiff punishment, it does nothing for the clients, or the public image of advice.
JM while the initial checks were obviously a failure this guys has kept up a lie for 12 years and even fraudulently created documents as evidence of his qualifications when caught out! It’s his bloody fault, of course they should blame the adviser here. All that so that he didn’t need to do a couple of business days worth of study. Poor risk:return trade that one.
How on earth did he begin advising (& being issued with a Proper Authority) without having his qualification checked?
Sounds as if the internal checks were not done by ANZ, but let’s just punish the Adviser instead.
To be fair 2003 was well before ANZ (or ING at the time) purchased FSP in 2007