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ASIC Slaps Eight-Year Ban On Ex-CFPL Advisor
Amisha Mehta
7 October 2015
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission has banned Sharnie Kent, formerly an advisor at Commonwealth Financial Planning Ltd, from providing financial services for eight years. The regulator found she was not adequately trained or competent to provide financial services and submitted insurance applications that contained incorrect information “amounting to conduct likely to mislead and deceive” while at CFPL, which is part of the Commonwealth Bank of Australia. Kent also wrote “purported signatures” of clients on insurance alteration requests and superannuation withdrawal forms, said. The investigation also found that she charged an excessive advisor fee and advised a share brokerage fee that was not properly payable by the client. “ASIC is committed to raising standards of conduct and compliance in the wealth management industry and will act to remove advisors whose conduct falls short,” said ASIC's deputy chair, Peter Kell. Kent becomes the sixth person to be banned from the financial services industry as part of ASIC's Wealth Management Project, which began late last year. Last month, the watchdog banned financial advisor Alfie Chong, formerly of Meritum Financial Group, from providing advice in the sector for five years.