ob体育 has accepted an enforceable undertaking (EU) from Sentinel Private Wealth Pty Ltd (SPW) after ob体育 found SPW was giving poor financial advice and that client file audits were inadequate.
Under the EU, SPW will engage an independent expert to assess, make recommendations and report on SPW's audit framework. The independent expert's work will include a review of SPW's policies and procedures followed by ongoing reviews of its client file audits for approximately 18 months.
The EU follows an ob体育 surveillance of SPW's business, which was prompted by actions taken against two of its financial advisers.
ob体育's surveillance found that SPW advisers had not completed adequate inquiries into clients' circumstances, had not completed sufficient analysis to determine the suitability of strategies, had not clearly defined the scope of advice, and had used generic reasons to support advice. Further, SPW's audits did not sufficiently identify these issues.
As a result, ob体育 is concerned that SPW may have failed to take reasonable steps to ensure that its representatives complied with financial services laws and failed to carry out adequate supervisory arrangements.
ob体育 acknowledges the assistance and cooperation of SPW in connection with the surveillance. ob体育 also acknowledges SPW has taken voluntary steps to address ob体育's concerns.
The enforceable undertaking is available here.