Dealer group Australian Financial Services (AFS) has been placed into voluntary administration.
Accounting and advisory firm BDO Australia has been appointed as administrator, owing to concerns the company is or may be insolvent.
According to a statement from BDO, the AFS group has been actively working with advisers with respect to a transfer to alternate licensees, however this process was unable to be finalised before the administrative action was taken.
‘The effect of our appointment is to place a moratorium on the payment of unsecured creditors’ accounts in relation to trading and other debts incurred up to the date of our appointment, until creditors make a decision about the Group’s future,’ BDO said.
‘We have commenced an assessment of the financial position of the Group to assess its future viability. We will continue to work with management and major stakeholders and regulators during the Voluntary Administration process.’
The future of AFS has recently been the subject of widespread industry conjecture, following media reports that the advice company was in financial trouble. In August 2012 the AFS Board appointed ex-ANZ General Manager, Alan Logan, as its new CEO, after it removed former group MD, Peter Daly, earlier in the year. Mr Logan announced he would be undertaking a strategic review of the group to determine its future.
“We’ve agreed that AFS Group must evolve if it is to be relevant and deliver value,” said Mr Logan in October last year.
“Once a range of fully costed scenarios are completed, we will speak with our advisers and key stakeholders, decide on the right direction and move quickly to implement.”
It is not yet clear whether the voluntary administration will trigger action from the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), which has the authority to suspend or cancel an AFS licence held by a body corporate if the body, among other things, becomes an externally-administered body corporate.
