A round-up of latest developments in Asia concerning compliance actions and permissions.

ASIC
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission has permanently banned former financial advisor Neil Bruce Trower from the industry.

This move by ASIC came after Trower, who provided risk advice from the outer Brisbane suburb of Cashmere as part of Millennium 3 Financial Services (M3), applied the several clients’ signatures to internal and external documents so as to pass an internal compliance audit. He also failed to give a number of clients a Statement of Advice, a necessary practice of advisors who provide clients with oral financial advice, the watchdog said in a statement. 

The misconduct, as found by ASIC, took place between August and December 2015.

The regulator said it also found Trower's conduct to be dishonest because he had not told the affected clients he had applied their signatures to documents.

The ban is part of ASIC’s Wealth Management Project, established in October 2014 to lift the standards of major financial advice providers. The project has banned 38 advisors so far. 

Trower has the right to appeal to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal for a review of ASIC's decision, the watchdog added.