Tracey Joanne Burnell has been permanently banned from providing financial services following an
ASIC investigation, which considered her conduct from 2014 to 2017.
Fifty-seven year-old Burnell is currently the director of Landlord Protection Group, and was the sole director of Landlord Protection & Collection (LP&C) (under external administration) and the now deregistered Protection & Collection (P&C).
ASIC found that Burnell, a Victoria-based insurance product referrer, went beyond her authority, and that of LP&C, when she arranged contracts of insurance for clients – issuing invoices for insurance premiums, and in some cases inflating the insurance prices; accepting payments for insurance premiums; and, on occasions, failing to pass on those payments to the insurance brokers with whom referral agreements were in place.
Burnell was also found to be an unfit and improper person to provide financial services because she performed a financial services role without an AFSL or authorisation; engaged in misleading and deceptive conduct, or conduct that was likely to mislead or deceive; and was involved in the contravention of a financial services law.
ASIC also found that Burnell is not of good fame or character and is likely to violate a financial services law.
This was not the first time that Burnell has been penalised for misconduct. In May 2011, she copped a three-year ban for providing financial services on behalf of P&C when neither she nor P&C were licensed or authorised. In August 2014, Burnell was convicted of a criminal offence after she misrepresented herself, on two occasions, that she was entitled to engage in legal practice.
“Where people engage in financial services when unlicensed or engage in misleading and deceptive conduct, ASIC will ensure that they are excluded from providing such services in the future,” said
Peter Kell, ASIC’s acting chairman.
Burnell can appeal to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal for a review of ASIC’s decision.
ASIC’s investigation concerning Burnell is ongoing.
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