ASIC continues its programme of removing rule-breakers and criminals from the wealth management sector.

Australia’s financial regulator has imposed a permanent ban on an advisor, Simon Mitchell, from the industry after being convicted on 25 counts of theft. His activities involved stealing A$2.354 million ($1.75 million) from a client.

The ban was imposed on Simon Mitchell, and convicted by the Supreme Court of Tasmania, 2 March, following a police investigation. Mitchell has been sentenced to eight years jail and be eligible for parole after serving five years.

The stolen money was used to fund an “extravagant lifestyle”, according to a statement from the Australian Securities and Investments Commission. 

Mitchell's conduct occurred over a period of approximately four years and, for the majority of that time, he was an authorised financial services representative of a subsidiary of National Australia Bank (NAB).
The banning is effective from 26 May 2017.

The case stems from ASIC's Wealth Management Project, a programme designed to raise standards across the industry and weed out miscreant advisors. The project focuses on the conduct of the largest financial advice firms (NAB, Westpac, CBA, ANZ, AMP and Macquarie).

Since the project began, the watchdog has 38 advisors (in addition to Mitchell) from the financial services industry.