ASIC bans former director of financial services business

The Australian Securities and Investment Commission has banned the director of a financial services company for six months on charges of cheating.

Anthony John Downey, of Brighton, Victoria, has been banned from providing financial services for six years following an investigation. 

Downey was, until 3 June 2015, a director of Platinum Mortgage Securities Limited.

ASIC said it found Downey engaged in misleading conduct by providing false documents to support an application for an Australian visa, knowing that the documents would be provided to an Australian government department.

ASIC found that the relevant documents prepared by Downey falsely represented that the visa applicant had made a qualifying investment with Platinum Mortgage Securities Limited.

ASIC Commissioner Greg Tanzer said, “ASIC expects directors and officers of financial services licensees to act with integrity when performing their role and, when they fail to do so, we will act to remove them from the industry.”

The matter was reported to ASIC by Platinum Mortgage Securities Limited.

Downey has the right to appeal to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) for a review of the decision.