Sydney insurance broker banned

In a statement, ASIC said WD Gelle Insurance & Finance Brokers responsible manager and director Warren Douglas Gelle has been banned from providing financial services for three years.

Mr Gelle’s banning follows the regulator cancelling WD Gelle’s AFSL in April 2014 for failing to forward client premiums on to insurers.

“Mr Gelle was banned after ASIC found that he failed to properly monitor compliance of WD Gelle's obligations as an [AFSL] and this facilitated the company's failure to maintain premium funding in trust pending payment to insurers,” the statement said.

ASIC deputy chairman Peter Kell said as the responsible manager Mr Gelle was accountable for ensuring the business complied with its obligations as a licensee.

“[The] banning of Mr Gelle should serve as a clear message that oversight of compliance failures will result in removal from the financial services industry,” Mr Kell said.

Mr Gelle has the right to appeal to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal for review of the regulator’s decision.