A judge has hit IOOF unit RI Advice with a $6 million penalty for failing to rein in an adviser who reaped hefty commissions for steering clients towards risky investments, despite earlier expressing concerns the penalty may not have enough sting.
A judge has raised concerns about a $6 million penalty proposed by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission against IOOF unit RI Advice for failing to rein in an adviser who reaped hefty commissions for steering clients towards risky investments.
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission has won its case against IOOF unit RI Advice, with a judge finding the financial services firm failed to ensure its advisers acted in the best interests of clients and did not give inappropriate advice.
A former financial advisor employed by an IOOF unit accused of taking hefty commissions for steering investors towards risky investments contravened the financial advice provisions of the Corporations Act, a judge has found.
A financial adviser at the centre of ASIC’s bad advice case against an IOOF unit might mount an argument that a fair trial is not possible because of his “fulsome” answers to investigators during a compulsory examination.
ASIC’s warning about the futility of mediation with an IOOF subsidiary has proved prophetic, with talks last week failing to resolve the regulator’s case ahead of trial starting Monday.
A judge has ordered ASIC to enter mediation before heading into a “very expensive” trial with an IOOF subsidiary accused of giving shonky advice, over objections from the regulator that mediation would be “completely futile”.
An IOOF subsidiary sued over “bad advice” has failed in its bid to stop ASIC from using documents from the banking royal commission as evidence in the case, with a judge saying the company had already provided the material to the financial watchdog without objection.