Melbourne-based dealer group loses AFSL

The cancellation of the AFSL of Evermore Money Management is effective from 4 December 2018.

Evermore’s licence was cancelled after ASIC undertook a surveillance and found that a representative of Evermore had advised clients to set up a self-managed superannuation fund (SMSF) and invest their superannuation in Evermore.

ASIC found that Evermore failed to adequately monitor and supervise its representatives and manage conflicts of interest.

Furthermore, ASIC found that Evermore:

• failed to do all things necessary to ensure that the financial services covered by their licence were provided efficiently, honestly and fairly;
• did not have in place up to date policies and procedures 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 requirements.

Under the terms of cancellation, Evermore is required to wind down its financial services business by 20 December 2018.

The cancellation of Evermore’s AFSL is part of ASIC's ongoing efforts to improve standards across the financial services industry.

AFS licensees are responsible for making sure that their authorised representatives are aware of their obligations. This means that licensees must ensure that their policies and procedures are up to date and comply with the law. They must also have robust procedures in place to check that their authorised representatives are complying with those policies.