ASIC launches Federal Court proceedings against QLD adviser
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has commenced proceedings in the Federal Court to make urgent preventative orders against a Queensland-based financial adviser.
Sunny Mahendra Prakash is currently a certified practicing accountant, registered tax practitioner, self-managed superannuation fund (SMSF) auditor and financial adviser, who is, along with his related companies, Principal Financial Services Pty Ltd, Self-Managed Super Pty Ltd, Provest Enterprises Pty Ltd and Super Funds Australia Pty Ltd ITF Principal Superannuation Fund, are now the subject of an ASIC investigation.
As a financial adviser, he is authorised by Principal Financial Services Pty Ltd to provide product advice across retirement savings account products and superannuation.
His activities relating to financial advice and client trading accounts from 28 January 2016 are now being investigated, with the first lot of asset preservation orders and international travel restriction orders against Prakash handed down by the Federal Court on 28 March last year.
A statement from the corporate watchdog said on 19 April of this year “the parties consented to a variation to carve outs to those asset preservations orders”.
The matter is listed for a case management hearing on 16 May 2024.
Watch this space. With all those qualifications and required PI. I’ll bet other financial advisers end up footing the bill for both ASIC’s investigation and for compensation to customers through CSLR.
Our industry presents a moral hazard for the government. Why bother trying to recover money off the perpetrator when it’s just easier to effectively send the bill for a prolonged investigation to every other adviser?
ASIC is incentivised to drag it on because they get more resources and the industry foots the bill. Everyone else in the chain is incentivised to deny claims …. because again the industry foots the bill.
There will be a point where there’s no industry left to foot any of the bills.
If the government can’t see this eventuality they’re asleep at the wheel. The regulator … too obtuse to see the outcomes of their own actions and funding structure.
The guy is an accountant…