ASIC slaps 7-year ban on financial adviser, Timothy Shapter.

The companies regulator has slapped a seven-year ban on a financial adviser, having determined that he provided advice that was not in his clients’ best interests and gave priority to generating fees for himself over the financial interests of his clients.

ASIC said in a statement that it had issued Queensland-based financial adviser Timothy Shapter a seven-year ban after reviewing his reports.

The regulator also cancelled the Australian Financial Services (AFS) licence of Smart Solutions Group, of which Mr Shapter was a director and an authorised representative.

The review found that Mr Shapter provided inappropriate switching advice by recommending that clients switch out of their existing superannuation and insurance products, and into higher fee-paying products. 

Mr Shapter also used a “layered advice” strategy, whereby he provided his clients with a superannuation statement of advice first, followed by an insurance statement of advice a few weeks later. This process was found to be confusing for clients and, in some cases, resulted in lost insurance or policy exclusions, while generating fees for himself.

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