ASIC imposes licence conditions on SMSF firm
A financial services firm that provides SMSF services has had additional conditions imposed on its licence after an ASIC investigation found that its representatives were not adequately monitored.
ASIC has imposed additional conditions on the Australian financial services licence of HNW Planning Pty Ltd, following surveillance by ASIC which found that HNW was not adequately monitoring and supervising its representatives and that its audit processes were deficient.
According to the HNW Planning website, the financial services firm provides a range of SMSF services including establishment, tax advice, investment advice, administration and estate planning.
The corporate regulator said that an initial ASIC surveillance of one of HNW’s authorised representatives led to a broader surveillance of HNW.
“Following the broader surveillance, ASIC concluded that HNW did not have adequate monitoring and supervision processes in place to identify non-compliance by its authorised representatives or to ensure that they complied with the best interests duty and related obligations,” ASIC stated.
The additional licence conditions imposed by ASIC require HNW to engage an independent expert to make recommendations on how to improve HNW’s monitoring and supervision processes.
The independent expert will then test and report on the effectiveness of the improvements made by HNW.
ASIC said that AFS licensees are responsible for the conduct of their representatives, and that it expects licensees to have effective monitoring and supervision arrangements in place to ensure that their representatives comply with the law when providing financial product advice to consumers.
“In particular, ASIC expects advice licensees to have robust audit processes in place,” it said.
“They should conduct sufficient periodic audits of all advisers, involving reviews of complete advice files, and use suitably qualified and trained staff to conduct these audits.”
ASIC said that the imposition of additional licence conditions on HNW is part of ASIC’s ongoing efforts to improve standards across the financial services industry.
“Under the Corporations Act, ASIC has the power to impose additional licence conditions under s914A. HNW has the right to seek a review of ASIC’s decision at the Administrative Appeals Tribunal,” the corporate regulator noted.
Miranda Brownlee
Miranda Brownlee is the deputy editor of SMSF Adviser, which is the leading source of news, strategy and educational content for professionals working in the SMSF sector.
Since joining the team in 2014, Miranda has been responsible for breaking some of the biggest superannuation stories in Australia, and has reported extensively on technical strategy and legislative updates.
Miranda also has broad business and financial services reporting experience, having written for titles including Investor Daily, ifa and Accountants Daily.
