The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) today announced that it has banned Matthew McCrow from working in the financial services industry for five years starting 15 January 2019.
McCrow was a director at Jade Capital Partners, an Australian investment company that provided managed discretionary account (MDA) products to its clients, whose license was cancelled on 31 January 2019 by ASIC.
Matthew McCrow is the second Jade Capital Partners’ director to be banned following the banning of James Clinnick due to their involvement in the company’s violation of Australian financial services laws. The company’s violations related to advertisements with deceptive investment returns, hidden costs and fees, false data on historic performance and fake results generated by its MDA products.
Jade Capital Partners also did not equip McCrow with the right training to competently discharge financial services to the firm’s clients. McCrow did not have adequate knowledge of the MDA products, foreign exchange contracts and other derivatives, which he recommended, hence, he could not provide competent financial advice relating to these products.
The Australian regulator ASIC’s investigation also revealed that McCrow had acted against the best interests of his clients by recommending MDA products that did not suit his clients’ needs. He also did not disclose all the costs and fees charged to clients, which misled them, resulting in higher charges than they expected.
The official announcement can be found here.