WA adviser cops permanent ban

The regulator has permanently banned Western Australia-based former financial adviser Dashiel Benjo Vee from providing financial services, controlling an entity that carries on a financial services business or performing any function involved in the carrying on of a financial services business.

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) found that Vee engaged in conduct that was “dishonest and demonstrated the opposite of integrity, sound judgment, trustworthiness, and professionalism”.

Vee provided his employer, Cojag Pty Ltd, with a falsified Financial Adviser Exam certificate and informed colleagues and an education provider that he had passed the exam.

The regulator added that he misled 24 clients of Cojag about him meeting the education and training standard when he provided them with personal advice.

ASIC further found that Vee was “not fit and proper, nor adequately trained and competent, to provide one or more financial services, and that he was likely to contravene a financial services law in the future”.

Vee was a financial adviser appointed by Cojag between 4 October 2021 to 29 December 2021, and 27 March 2022 to 2 March 2023. The Financial Advisers Register was updated to remove the appointment from 27 March 2022 after Cojag became aware that Vee had not passed the financial adviser exam.

“Cojag has informed ASIC of its client review and remediation measures in response to Mr Vee’s conduct. Cojag have cooperated with ASIC’s enquiries,” ASIC said.

Vee has a right to appeal to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal for a review of ASIC’s decision.

Last week, a financial adviser who had falsified his exam result saw a permanent ban from ASIC reduced by the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) to seven years.

Todd Karamian was permanently banned in March 2023 for falsifying the result of his financial adviser exam from a fail to a pass. He sat the exam in November 2021, having already rescheduled it three times. This was the final sitting he could take in order to maintain his status as a relevant provider on 1 January 2022.

When he received his result, he detailed how he “sat in shock” and realised there were no further sittings available to retake the exam. He then manually changed it and continued to provide financial advice at licensee Bluepoint, where he had worked since 2003, to 11 clients when he was not a relevant provider.

In the AAT orders, Justice Kyrou said the decision to vary the ban had been taken based on their expert evidence about Karamian’s mental health, a prior good record over many years, and extensive favourable character evidence. He also outlined that the applicant was remorseful, took responsibility for the action, and there was a low risk of him doing the same action again.