Australian Securities & Investments Commission Bans Financial Adviser for 5 Years

Australian Securities & Investments Commission (ASIC) announced today that the authority has imposed a ban on Walter Yaolong Guan, a Sydney-based financial adviser, from providing financial services. Moreover, the banning of Guan has been recorded on ASIC’s banned and disqualified register.

The details shared by ASIC show that Guan carried out financial services business on behalf of clients between March 2017 and August 2021 even though his company was not holding an Australian Financial Services (AFS) license.

Since the start of this year, ASIC has accelerated its efforts against rising illegal financial activities under its jurisdiction. The recent news from the authority came nearly 6 weeks after it had imposed a ban on a former adviser from providing financial services.

“ASIC found that between March 2017 and August 2021, Mr. Guan, through his company Perennial Growth Pty Ltd, carried on a financial services business when he traded shares on behalf of clients and used managed discretionary accounts, despite neither he nor his company holding an Australian Financial Services (AFS) license. For part of that period, Mr. Guan was an authorized representative of an AFS licensee. However, Mr. Guan’s authorization did not permit him to trade shares on, or operate, managed discretionary accounts,” ASIC highlighted.

Competency

The Australian authority noted that Guan was not competent enough to provide financial services as he failed to identify key requirements to conduct relevant business in the region. While ASIC has imposed a ban on the Sydney-based adviser, Guan has the right to appeal for a review.

“ASIC also found that Mr. Guan was not competent to provide financial services as he had failed to identify that he required an AFS license to conduct a financial services business in Australia, failed to maintain adequate client records and breached his authorized representative agreement with his AFS licensee,” the authority added.