The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has cancelled the Australian financial services licence (AFSL) of Evermore Money Management for failing to comply with several licensee obligations and manage conflicts of interest.
Evermore’s licence was cancelled after ASIC carried out surveillance and found one of its representatives had advised clients to set up an SMSF and invest their superannuation money in Evermore.
ASIC found Evermore failed to adequately monitor and supervise its representatives and manage conflicts of interest.
The corporate regulator also established Evermore failed to do all things required to ensure the financial services covered by its licence were provided efficiently, honestly and fairly.
In addition, it determined Evermore did not have up-to-date policies and procedures in place to ensure representatives understood their obligations to act in clients’ best interests, did not lodge annual financial statements and auditor’s reports, and did not meet licence conditions requiring them to maintain base-level financial obligations.
Under the terms of cancellation, Evermore needs to wind down its financial services business by 20 December. The cancellation came into effect on 4 December.
Evermore has held an AFSL since May 2011.
The cancellation is part of ASIC’s ongoing efforts to boost standards across the financial services industry.
ASIC said AFSLs must have procedures in place to check their authorised representatives are complying with the licensee’s policies and procedures.
