ASIC has permanently banned former responsible manager Anthony ‘Tony’ David Wynd of Melbourne from providing financial services.
A statement from the regulator says that Wynd was the sole director and responsible manager of Financial Circle Pty Ltd, a financial services and credit business ordered by the Federal Court to pay $8.98 million in total penalties after contravening financial services, credit and consumer protection laws. (See: Advice Group Hit with $9 Million Penalty and ASIC Cancels Licence of Advice Firm).
The ASIC statement says it determined a permanent ban from the provision of financial services was appropriate given Wynd’s position at Financial Circle, his connection to that misconduct, the seriousness of that misconduct and the likelihood that he would contravene a financial services law in the future.
In a statement released after the Federal Court’s decision in November 2018, ASIC noted that Financial Circle offered personal loans to consumers of up to $5,000 that could only be obtained if the consumer agreed to receive and implement financial advice. The advice typically recommended purchasing personal insurance products and switching superannuation providers.
ASIC said at the time that when consumers implemented the advice, significant advice fees were paid to Financial Circle directly from the consumer’s superannuation. Financial Circle also received ongoing commission payments from the insurers and that this process often resulted in a substantial erosion – in many cases up to 30 percent – of the client’s superannuation balances.
This latest statement from ASIC says that the permanent banning took effect from 13 August 2019.
Wynd had applied at the time to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) for a review of ASIC’s decision to permanently ban him and ASIC says he also applied for a stay of ASIC’s decision from taking effect and a stay of ASIC issuing a media release regarding the banning decision.
ASIC says that on 1 November 2019, the AAT refused Wynd’s application for a stay of ASIC’s financial services banning decision from taking effect, however, the tribunal made orders prohibiting ASIC from publishing its decision to permanently ban Wynd from providing financial services until further order of the AAT.
On 13 May 2020, Wynd withdrew his application to the tribunal for a review of ASIC’s decision to permanently ban him. And on 22 June 2020, the AAT made orders vacating the prohibition on ASIC publishing its decision.
