Compliance
Compliance Corner - ASIC, SFC
Here is a round-up of the latest compliance stories from the Asia-Pacific wealth management sector.
ASIC
Australia has permanently banned a former financial advisor from
its financial services industry after an investigation revealed
he embezzled funds from a deceased estate.
Robert Smith, of West Lakes, South Australia, is prohibited from
providing financial services “on the basis that he is not of good
fame or character,” the
Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) said
in an online statement.
A probe by the regulator found that between December 2008 and
July 2016, Smith transferred A$278,042 ($219,088) from the bank
account of a deceased estate, for which he was the trustee and
executor, to accounts held in his name or Advice 4 Wealth, of
which he was the sole director.
“ASIC found that Mr Smith's conduct was designed to benefit his
own interest and financial needs at the expense of the Estate and
the beneficiaries,” the watchdog said. “ASIC also found that Mr
Smith's conduct was dishonest and that he made false statements
about what happened to the estate funds.”
Smith has the right to appeal the regulator’s decision.
Securities and Futures Commission
The Hong Kong watchdog Securities
and Futures Commission (SFC) has reprimanded and fined
EFG Bank HK$2
million ($255,000) for dealing in futures contracts without the
required registration.
The SFC found that between 1 April 2003 and 22 November 2016, EFG
Bank executed 139 transactions in offshore listed index options
for 11 clients without the required registration to deal in
futures contracts.
Also, the SFC believes that EFG Bank’s failure to ensure
compliance with a registration requirement under the Securities
and Futures Ordinance called into question the “fitness and
properness of EFG Bank as a regulated person”.
In deciding the disciplinary sanctions, the SFC took into account
that:
• EFG Bank initiated a review of its offshore listed index
options activities and self-reported the unlicensed activities to
the SFC;
• There is no evidence to suggest that the non-compliance was
intentional;
• EFG Bank co-operated with the SFC in resolving the SFC’s
concerns;
• EFG Bank has taken remedial measures to strengthen its internal
controls to avoid recurrence of similar issues
• EFG Bank has an otherwise clean disciplinary record with the
SFC.
