Financial adviser bans on the rise but ASIC says it needs more powers

The corporate watchdog is banning an increasing number of financial advisers over misconduct, but seeks more power to go after the banks that hire them.

More than 100 financial advisers have been banned from the industry in the last three years, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission said.

But it said it lacks the tools to go after financial licensees, usually the big banks.

Speaking at a parliamentary joint committee into the oversight of ASIC, the market regulator said financial advice remained a focus of its enforcement activities.

ASIC Deputy Chair Peter Kell says the regulator's powers to take action against the financial institutions and executives behind dodgy planners remained limited. Credit: Katherine Griffiths

"It's a busy area for us, and an important area for us as we deal with advisers who have been causing problems," ASIC deputy chair Peter Kell said.

His comments came as another financial adviser from Perth, who was licensed through an ANZ subsidiary, received a lifetime ban.

ASIC has banned 103 advisers over the last three years, and the number has been increasing year on year, it said.

But the regulator said its powers to take action against the financial institutions and executives behind dodgy planners remained limited.

"There are some limitations in what we can do in this area in regards to licensees and senior managers," Mr Kell said.

"In some cases, frankly it would be good to do more, but we don't have it in our tool kit at the moment."

ASIC wants the power to ban senior managers and executives, and the ability to seek disgorgement of profits.

Fairfax Media revealed last month that NAB financial planners had been falsely witnessing death beneficiary forms – legally binding documents that determine who gets a person's super when they die.

In response to the misconduct, NAB did not sack the planners, instead calling on them to "self-report" the behaviour and lose 25 per cent of their bonus.

The Financial Services Union, which has been vocal in criticising the sales culture of the big banks, said in response to the misconduct that banks need to address systemic and cultural problems as well as going after individual advisers.

ASIC permanently banned Perth adviser Robert Hutchison on Thursday for misleading and deceiving clients.

Mr Hutchison was an authorised representative of RI Advice, a subsidiary of ANZ's OnePath division.

ASIC said Mr Hutchison misled or deceived clients by failing to disclose to them that they had been double charged advice fees and failed to comply with the proper process for remitting and reporting the fees.