ASIC has cancelled the Australian financial services (AFS) licences of Mark Power Financial Pty Ltd (MPF) and Mr Mark Raymund Power, effective from 14 November 2011.
MPF
MPF’s business, based in Adelaide, involved authorising individuals and companies to provide financial services under its AFS licence that included the provision of financial product advice, and the dealing in financial products including derivatives, foreign exchange contracts and securities.
MPF’s licence was cancelled due to concerns that MPF had not complied with its obligations as a financial services licensee and would not, in the future, comply with financial services laws.
In particular, ASIC’s investigation found MPF had:
-
failed to carry out appropriate background checks before appointing authorised representatives;
-
failed to have measures that allowed it to determine whether its representatives complied with financial services laws;
-
failed to have a robust mechanism for remedying breaches;
-
failed to identify and remedy various misleading or deceptive statements on the websites operated by its authorised representatives;
-
failed to comply with the conditions on the MPF licence; and
-
failed to ensure its representatives were adequately trained and competent.
ASIC also found that Mark Raymund Power, the responsible manager of MPF, does not understand the obligations of a financial services licensee.
No findings have been made by ASIC about the conduct of any of these authorised representatives.
Mark Raymund Power
Mark Raymund Power’s licence was cancelled due to concerns that Mr Power will not comply with his obligations as a financial services licensee by reason of his conduct in connection with MPF’s licence.
In addition, ASIC was concerned that Mr Power:
-
made a misleading statement to a potential authorised representative of MPF;
-
made a misleading statement on MPF’s website;
-
lacks knowledge of legal requirements relating to the appointment of authorised representatives;
-
failed to ensure a termination agreement with one of his authorised representatives was complied with; and
-
failed to recognise deficiencies in background checks carried out by MPF regarding its authorised representatives.
The cancellation of MPF and Mark Raymund Power’s AFS licences is part of ASIC’s ongoing efforts to improve standards across the financial services industry.
MPF and Mark Raymund Power have applied to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal seeking a stay and review of ASIC’s decisions.
Editor's note 1:
On 17 November 2011, Mark Power Financial Pty Ltd and Mark Raymund Power withdrew their application to the AAT seeking a stay of ASIC's decisions.
Editor's note 2:
On 7 December 2011 Liquidators were appointed to Mark Power Financial Pty Ltd.
On 8 December 2011 Mark Power Financial Pty Ltd and Mark Raymund Power withdrew their applications to the AAT seeking a review of ASIC's decisions.
Editor's note 3:
On 7 December 2011 Liquidators were appointed to Mark Power Financial Pty Ltd. On 8 December 2011 Mark Power Financial Pty Ltd and Mark Raymund Power withdrew their applications to the AAT seeking a review of ASIC's decisions.