Gold Coast financial advisor Kyle Marshall banned for three years over bad share trading advice

A Gold Coast man described by the corporate regulator as incompetent and lacking knowledge has been banned from providing financial services for three years.

ASIC has banned Kyle Marshall, of Varsity Lakes, Queensland, from providing financial services for three years. Photo: Supplied

A GOLD Coast man described by the corporate regulator as incompetent and lacking knowledge has been banned from providing financial services for three years.

The Australia Securities and Investments Commission said Varsity Lakes man Kyle Marshall had not complied with financial service laws when recommending his clients invest in a share trading strategy operated by Rodney Peters, who was banned from the industry earlier this year.

Mr Marshall was an authorised representative of Sentinel Private Wealth, which went into liquidation in April last year, and was a director of Vogue Planners, which was a corporate authorised representative of Sentinel.

Mr Peters, who was a director of Australian Share Registry, engaged in more than 1000 unauthorised options trades on behalf of clients between April, 2015 and April, 2016.

Mr Marshall provided personal advice to clients, recommending they invest in the strategy operated by Mr Peters.

ASIC found “significant flaws” in Mr Marshall’s process for providing his clients advice to invest in the share investment strategy, and that he was “not adequately trained or competent to provide financial services”.

ASIC has banned Kyle Marshall, of Varsity Lakes, Queensland, from providing financial services for three years. Photo: Supplied

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The regulator said Mr Marshall failed to act in the best interests of his clients, who were inexperienced in investing in shares and options.

“The Statements of Advice Mr Marshall provided to his clients did not accurately record his advice or his clients’ relevant circumstances and did not contain the level of detail reasonably required for the purpose of deciding to act on the advice,” ASIC said in a statement.

ASIC said Mr Marshall did not understand the meaning of personal advice; failed to record his communications with his clients; and failed to disclose to his clients that a company, of which he was sole director, would receive a commission from referring client to Mr Peters.

Mr Marshall’s clients ultimately experienced large losses on their investments with Mr Peters.

The banning of Mr Marshall is part of ASIC’s ongoing efforts to improve standards across the financial services industry. It will be recorded on ASIC’s publicly available Financial Advisers Register and the Banned and Disqualified Persons Register.

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