The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has permanently banned an adviser for high-volume advice that led to clients being advised to roll over their superannuation into the Shield and First Guardian master funds.
ASIC stated that on 1 April it had banned Aristotle Papapavlou from involvement in a financial services business after finding he engaged in dishonest, misleading and unprofessional conduct, and demonstrated a lack of competence and judgment while operating as a financial adviser.
The corporate regulator also found Papapavlou was not a fit and proper person, was not adequately trained or competent, and was likely to contravene financial services and credit laws in the future.
“In making the banning order, ASIC had regard to Mr Papapavlou’s involvement in a high-volume advice process at Venture Egg that included unlicensed third-party referrers completing the fact finds and resulted in clients being advised to roll over their superannuation into Shield and First Guardian,” it stated.
“ASIC also found that Mr Papapavlou was complicit in an advice process where he knew that financial advisers were dealing with clients on behalf of other Venture Egg financial advisers and that statements of advice (SOA) were being put in his name, or the name of other financial advisers, and were being presented to clients that he or the other financial advisers had not met.
“ASIC also found that Mr Papapavlou knew unlicensed third-party referrers were presenting SOA documents to clients and that he preferred his own interests in receiving remuneration from recommending Shield and First Guardian over the interests of providing independent advice to clients that was in their best interest and appropriate.”
Papapavlou was an authorised representative of Interprac Financial Planning under the corporate authorised representative of Ferras Merhi Pty Ltd & United Financial Advice Pty Ltd, trading as Venture Egg, from 21 October 2021 to 31 July 2023, after which he became an authorised representative of Hejaz Financial Advisers Pty Ltd from 5 September 2023 until 31 January 2026.
The ban prohibits Papapavlou from providing any financial service, performing any function involved in the carrying on of a financial services business and controlling an entity that carries on a financial services business.
His ban has been recorded on ASIC’s Financial Advisers Register and the Banned and Disqualified Register and he has the right to apply to the Administrative Review Tribunal for a review of the regulator’s decision.
