Jeffrey Worboys and Matthew Barnett were until February last year joint chief executives of Australian Mutual Holdings Limited, which was an AFSL holder and responsible entity operating a number of managed investment schemes.
One such scheme run by the duo was the Courtenay House Capital Investment Fund, which ASIC found them to not have exercised the degree of care and diligence required to establish the fund.
ASIC found that the two executives failed to act in the best interest of the members of the fund, including a failure to ensure that the persons responsible for trading funds had the requisite qualifications and experience to manage a foreign exchange and derivatives fund.
Mr Worboys and Mr Barnett were found to not be relied upon to discharge the duties and obligations imposed on a provider of financial services and were likely to contravene a financial services law.
The duo have been banned for six years and have the right to appeal for a review of the decision.
[quote=Anonymous]I’m looking forward to ASIC and the Crown ripping Worboys apart after he failed to pay my wages, holiday pay, superannuation, long service leave and not to mention unpaid bonus amounts. [/quote]
If you were a former employee of Halifax, then we have something in common. I hope you are suing
On 11 June 2018 Gervase Greene, ASIC’s National Media Manager, wrote about the closure of Dover:
“I spoke to Louise (ie Louise Macaulay, now ASIC’s “Chief Supervisory Officer) who was more than happy to be seen on the front foot. Apparently Dover were looking for the end of the year, playing for more time. We said no.”
The next day, 12 June 2018, Joanna Bird, at the time job sharing with Louise Macaulay, and is now Executive Director Wealth Management, rang the AFA CEO Phillip Kerwin to snuffle the AFA intervention for more time for Dover advisers to find a new AFSL. In Phillip’s own words:
“Our interpretation was that while Terry pulled the trigger it was at ASIC’s instigation, thus my comments to the trade media about looking to ASIC or the minister for an extension as one month is insufficient time to transition for potential advisers and potential licensees. We just didn’t know that this was completely Terry McMaster’s orchestration and not merely a reaction to directions from ASIC.” (emphasis added)
Joanna Bird did not mention to Phillip Kerwin on 5 June 2018 ASIC wrote to Dover, in a letter approved by senior ASC staff. As Louise Macaulay and Joanna Bird knew the 5 June 2018 letter sternly disabuses the reader of any thought Dover was closing voluntarily, saying such beliefs were “misconceived”, and ASIC required Dover to stop providing advice on 8 June 2018 and to terminate all advisers by 6 July 2018.
Philip Kerwin now knows Louise Macaulay and Joanna Bird misled and deceived him, and in so doing denied Dover’s 410 advisers an extra month to find a new AFSL.
But why isn’t ASIC taking action against Louise Macaulay and Joanna Bird the same way as it has taken action against Jeffrey Worboy and Mathew Barnett?
Why does ASIC not apply its external standards to internal breaches of the law and accepted mores of professional conduct.
I’m looking forward to ASIC and the Crown ripping Worboys apart after he failed to pay my wages, holiday pay, superannuation, long service leave and not to mention unpaid bonus amounts. But I guess Jeff is so much smarter than the forensic auditors, ASIC and those chumps the Crown. After all he went to Harvard… where he did an executive weekend and visited the Rowing Club and Polo Club.
I just love the “…likely to contravene a financial services law…” powers that ASIC have and are exercising every chance they get while on their mad power trip. How the hell can you ruin someone’s career on a whim because you feel they MAY contravene a law? Should we therefore be locking up everyone with a neck tattoo and shaved head because they MAY contravene a law at some stage in their life??
Are you guys joking??
These were clearly not advisers in the sense of financial planners, which is what your headline suggested.
They may well have been ARs of the AFSL, but the AFSL was an RE, more likely they were also RMs.
It would be useful if you actually knew what you were talking about guys instead of just going for the usual sensationalistic crap rampant in what goes for “journalism” today.