ASIC bans former Spectrum Wealth financial adviser
Jane Elizabeth Myers has been banned from providing financial services because she did not act in her clients’ best interests or provide advice that was appropriate to their circumstances.
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) today announces that it has permanently banned Jane Elizabeth Myers from providing financial services.
The imposition of the ban follows an ASIC surveillance of Ms Myers when she was an authorised representative of Spectrum Wealth Advisers Pty Ltd between October 2013 and March 2017.
Ms Myers claimed that she was only facilitating the establishment of self-managed superannuation funds (SMSFs) for her clients, rather than providing financial product advice. However, ASIC’s surveillance found that Ms Myers gave her clients financial product advice recommending they establish SMSFs and roll over their existing superannuation into SMSFs. In doing so, she did not act in her clients’ best interests or provide advice that was appropriate to their circumstances.
In particular, Ms Myers was found to have failed to:
- identify her clients’ relevant circumstances;
- investigate whether the SMSF would achieve the clients’ financial objectives beyond their desire to purchase property;
- reasonably inform her clients of all associated costs of holding a property within an SMSF; and
- provide her clients with statements of advice.
ASIC determined that Ms Myers is not adequately trained or competent to provide financial services and that she is likely to contravene a financial services law in the future. Her conduct demonstrated serious incompetence and irresponsibility, the regulator said.
Ms Myers has the right to appeal to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal for a review of ASIC’s decision.
Let’s recall that, in February this year, ASIC imposed a six-year ban from the financial services industry on Mark Schroeder, a former director, chief executive officer, responsible manager and a key person for Spectrum Wealth Advisers Pty Ltd.
The ban is imposed due to Mr Schroeder’s his role in numerous compliance failures by Spectrum. ASIC found that Mr Schroeder, as the most senior manager at Spectrum and the person primarily responsible for its activities and day-to-day management, was involved in Spectrum’s contraventions of financial services laws.
The regulator also believes that Mr Schroeder is likely to contravene a financial services law in the future because of his involvement and responsibility for Spectrum’s failures and because of his poor understanding of the obligations of providers of financial services, particularly regarding compliance matters.
