Mr Paul Meier, of Findon, South Australia, has offered an enforceable undertaking (EU) to ASIC to permanently refrain from providing financial services or engaging in any credit activity.
ASIC accepted the EU from Mr Meier, 49, following an investigation into his conduct as a director and responsible manager of Barker Meier Insurance Brokers Pty Ltd (BMIB).
In offering the EU, Mr Meier has acknowledged the views held by ASIC as a result of its investigation that:
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on 16 occasions between 31 October 2010 and 20 November 2011, he submitted loan applications to Premium Funding Pty Ltd containing false information
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the false loan applications referred to above caused Premium Funding to advance loan funds to Mr Meier, and
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the loan funds received by Mr Meier from Premium Funding were used by Mr Meier to meet the business expenses of BMIB and were therefore applied to the benefit of Mr Meier.
ASIC Commissioner Peter Kell said, ‘Persons like Mr Meier who are involved in the financial services industry must provide services honestly and act in the best interests of clients. ASIC will seek to ban brokers and advisers who fail to meet these standards and thereby undermine consumer confidence.’
Background
Barker Meier Insurance Brokers Pty Ltd (the company) was incorporated on 8 November 1991 and Mr Meier was a director and 50% shareholder. The company held an Australian financial services licence and Mr Meier was the Responsible Manager and also provided financial services to retail clients.
The company was engaged in insurance broking in both Adelaide and Melbourne and at various times Mr Meier was the financial controller for the company responsible for the administration of its trust account.