ASIC bans WA director for six years

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has banned West Australian financial services director, Sharee Hutchinson, for six years due to “lack of professionalism and judgement required of a participant in the financial services industry”.

According to ASIC, between December 2020 and January 2021, Hutchinson contacted investors in the First Guardian Master Fund and suggested they roll their investments from the Chiodo Diversified Property Development Class to the Australian Opportunities Class (AOC).

Following this, Hutchinson became an authorised representative of an Australian Financial Service licensee, United Global Capital Pty Ltd. Between October 2021 and April 2022, she contacted two investors about potential returns by rolling over their investments, without providing meaningful comparisons of the investments.

Hutchinson also made representations about the need “to act quickly and offered to waive her fees if the investors rolled over their investments.”

As a result of the banning, Hutchinson would be prohibited from controlling an entity that carries on a financial services business, and performing any function involved in the carrying on of a financial services business (including as an officer, manager, employee, contractor or in some other capacity).

Hutchinson has the right to appeal to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal for a review of ASIC’s decision.

The misconduct of Hutchinson included:

• misused personal information about investors by contacting them when she was not in a role that allowed her to do so;
• used logos of entities without their permission which was likely to create a misleading impression that she had their authority to contact investors;
• made misleading statements to investors about fund performance and land valuations;
• created a document containing information relating to the AOC and distributed it to investors, giving them the impression that it had been approved by the fund’s management;
• made misleading representations to investors about waiving her own fees if they took up the offer, in circumstances where she was not entitled to charge a fee and never charged fees to investors; and
• made misleading representations to investors that there were only limited spots available, creating an appearance of urgency.