Former Sydney financial adviser Sam Henderson has pleaded guilty to three charges related to his claims he held a Master of Commerce when he did not hold that qualification.
The former chief executive and senior financial adviser of Henderson Maxwell pleaded guilty to one rolled-up charge of dishonest conduct and to two counts of making a disclosure document available to a person knowing it to be defective.
ASIC alleged that between 1 July 2010 and November 2017, and while he was chief executive, director and senior adviser of Henderson Maxwell, Henderson engaged in dishonest conduct by falsely claiming he held the qualification.
According to ASIC, he made this claim in 115 PowerPoint presentations given to prospective clients from 2010 to 2016, on the firm’s website from October 2012 to August 2016, in brochures distributed between 2013 and 2017 and in an information memorandum dated May 2011.
The regulator also alleged Henderson made false representations regarding his holding the Master of Commerce qualification in a 2013 book authored by him, as part of an interview and marketing profile on him to promote a Master of Commerce course and in some of his professional biographies and descriptions.
It also alleged he breached section 952D(2)(a)(ii) of the Corporations Act 2001 in 2014 and 2016 by giving two clients a financial services guide containing the false representation that he held a Master of Commerce (Financial Planning).
A dishonest conduct offence under section 1041G of the Corporations Act carries a maximum penalty in the local court of two years’ imprisonment or a fine not exceeding 120 penalty units, or both.
Each defective disclosure offence under section 952D(2)(a)(ii) of the Corporations Act carries a maximum penalty in the local court of 12 months’ imprisonment or a fine not exceeding 60 penalty units, or both.
The matter is being prosecuted by the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions, following a referral of a brief of evidence from ASIC, and Henderson will be sentenced in Sydney’s Downing Centre Local Court on 13 October.
Henderson, appeared as a witness and was the subject of a bad advice case study at the Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry.
He was also banned from providing financial services for a period of three years in July 2019 after he failed to act in the best interests of his clients, provide appropriate advice and prioritise his clients’ interests when providing personal financial advice.
