A Brisbane-based financial planner has been banned by Australia’s corporate watchdog from providing financial services for a year, for failing to disclose criminal charges to a professional indemnity insurer and when applying to be an authorised representative of Infocus Securities Australia Pty Ltd.
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) said Nina Katherina Williams “acted with a lack of care and professionalism” when, in applying to become an authorised representative, she did not disclose in both her licensee and professional indemnity insurance application forms that she had been subject to a court action. Williams had been charged with fraud and stealing under the Queensland Criminal Code.
“By failing to disclose this information to Infocus and the professional indemnity insurer, Ms Williams prevented her licensee from making a fully informed decision about her suitability as an authorised representative,” ASIC said. “Furthermore, her failure to disclose this information could have resulted in the avoidance of the insurance contract by the insurer, which means her clients may not have received compensation in the event of a claim or a dispute.”
Williams may appeal for a review of ASIC’s decision to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal.
