Australian regulator ASIC has informed the public that it has canceled the Australian financial services (AFS) license of the company Bristol Street Financial Services Pty Ltd.
According to the regulator, Bristol Street Financial did not comply with several financial services laws, which has led to the cancellation.
The complete text of ASIC’s announcement reads as follows:
ASIC has cancelled the Australian financial services (AFS) license held by Bristol Street Financial Services Pty Ltd (Bristol Street), effective from 6 December 2018.
ASIC’s surveillance of Bristol Street, conducted between 22 July 2016 and 27 October 2017, uncovered widespread non-compliance with financial services laws and showed that Bristol Street had failed to:
- comply with the conditions on its license;
- comply with financial services laws;
- take reasonable steps to ensure its representatives complied with financial services laws;
- manage conflicts of interest;
- have available adequate human and financial resources to provide financial services covered by the license; and
- to properly monitor and supervise its representatives.
The terms of the cancellation allow Bristol Street to continue for the purposes of ensuring that:
- its clients continue to have access to an external dispute resolution scheme; and
- it retains professional indemnity insurance until 5 December 2019.
Background
Under the Corporations Act, ASIC has the power to suspend or cancel an AFS license, if a licensee does not comply with its general obligations under s912A.
Bristol Street has the right to seek a review of ASIC’s decision at the Administrative Appeals Tribunal.