ASIC’s investigation into the activities of Commonwealth Financial Planning (Commonwealth FP) has resulted in a further two former advisers being handed hefty penalties.
The corporate regulator has permanently banned ex-Commonwealth FP adviser Anthony Awkar of Merrylands, Sydney, from providing financial services.
It has also banned former Commonwealth FP adviser, Jane Duncan, for a period of three years.
The bannings marked the fifth action ASIC had taken against former Commonwealth FP staff, an ASIC statement said.
Awkar’s strict ban was given after an ASIC investigation found he forged the signatures of four of his clients.
Awkar, an authorised representative of the Commonwealth Bank of Australia group from May 2008 until his resignation in June 2010, was ranked as one of Commonwealth FP’s top financial advisers, ASIC said.
“Mr Awkar’s conduct was at the more serious end of the issues we have seen, which is why he has been permanently banned from the financial services industry,” ASIC commissioner Peter Kell said.
“ASIC found that Mr Awkar’s conduct was not isolated and did not arise from inadvertence, ignorance or mistake. Rather he behaved in a deliberately dishonest manner on numerous occasions over a period of almost two years and in relation to a number of clients. As a result, ASIC found Mr Awkar not to be a person of good character.”
Meanwhile, ASIC banned Duncan after an investigation found she had failed in her responsibilities while providing financial product advice.
Duncan, of Washpool, Queensland, was employed as a financial planner with Commonwealth FP between 4 February 2008 and 27 January 2010.
ASIC’s investigation found she had failed to comply with the fundamental duties and obligations under the Corporations Act 2001.
Awkar and Duncan have the right to appeal to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal to seek a review of ASIC’s decision.
The latest bannings follow investigations of other former Commonwealth FP financial advisers, Don Nguyen, Simon Langton and Christopher Baker.
On 25 October 2011, ASIC accepted an enforceable undertaking from Commonwealth FP requiring the group to conduct a comprehensive review of its risk management framework and develop a plan to address any deficiencies in that framework.
