Australian Securities & Investments Commission (ASIC)
MEDIA RELEASE
Friday 10 November 2006 LAWFUEL – Legal News, Legal Jobs Network – The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has cancelled the Australian Financial Services Licence held by South Australian company, Australian Business Insurance Advisers Pty Ltd (ABIA) and banned its two directors and trainee adviser. ABIA has also been banned by ASIC from providing any financial services for two years. Licensed in February 2003, ABIA traded from 267 Angas Street in Adelaide and provided financial product advice in areas including income protection insurance and superannuation.
ASIC banned ABIA’s directors, Mr Terence Malcolm Franke and his wife, Mrs Wendy Franke, for two years and one year respectively after a surveillance visit in November 2005 and a subsequent investigation into the activities of the company. Following this investigation, ASIC’s delegate found that Mr Terence Franke gave financial product advice without providing a statement of advice, and, on other occasions, provided statements of advice that did not contain information required by law, including, in some cases, information about the remuneration to be paid. The delegate also found Mrs Wendy Franke did not ensure that Mr Terence Franke and Mr Craig Maurice Franke acted in conformity with financial services laws and that ABIA complied with its obligations as a licensee. As a consequence of its investigations, ASIC also banned Mr Franke’s son, Mr Craig Franke, for a period of two years after finding that he was providing financial advice unsupervised and signed the name of another adviser on statements of advice in contravention of the Corporations Act.
‘Financial advisers and licensees must ensure that clients are provided with all relevant information, including that relating to remuneration, to enable clients to make an informed decision about their choice of financial products,’ said ASIC’s Deputy Executive Director of Enforcement, Mr Allen Turton. ABIA and the Frankes have the right to lodge an application for review of ASIC’s decision with the Administrative Appeals Tribunal. For further information contact: Allen Turton Deputy Executive Director, Enforcement Telephone: 02 9911 2338 Mobile: 0411 549 236 Emma Forehan ASIC Media Unit Telephone: 02 9280 3354 Mobile: 0409 702 310
