Key Insights
- ASIC has cancelled the financial services licence of Crown Wealth Group Pty Ltd
- The licence cancellation comes after Crown Wealth entered voluntary administration
- ASIC is able to revoke licences without a hearing in cases where a firm is under administration or being wound up
SYDNEY, April 10 (MarketsXplora) – Australia’s corporate regulator has cancelled the financial services licence of advisory firm Crown Wealth Group Pty Ltd following its entry into voluntary administration earlier this month.
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) said on Thursday it exercised powers to revoke Crown Wealth’s licence without a hearing as permitted under laws governing companies under administration or liquidation.
Sule Arnautovic of Salea Advisory was appointed as the voluntary administrator of Crown Wealth on March 13, ASIC said.
Prior to the cancellation, Crown Wealth’s licence had authorised it to provide retail and institutional clients advice on products including superannuation, securities, deposits, managed funds and life insurance policies.
The watchdog noted Crown Wealth retains rights to apply for a review of the decision by the Administrative Appeals Tribunal.
Crown Wealth, based in Melbourne, had held the Australian Financial Services (AFS) licence since March 2017.
The licence termination comes amid heightened regulatory scrutiny of financial advice failures in Australia in the wake of a government-backed inquiry that revealed widespread wrongdoing and poor conduct across the industry.
ASIC has been taking a harder stance on pulling licences in cases of alleged serious compliance lapses by advisers, with Crown Wealth representing one of several AFS licences revoked so far in 2024 after firms collapsed or faced solvency issues.
Advocacy groups have criticised financial advisers’ mistreatment of clients in areas like fees for no service and inappropriate financial product sales, prompting the regulatory crackdown.