The federal court has dished out a $1.2 million penalty to Dover Financial Advisers as part of the fallout from its 2019 judgement that the stricken licensee engaged in “false, misleading or deceptive conduct” when it provided almost 20,000 ‘client protection’ policies.
As part of the ruling the firm’s former sole director, Terence McMaster, has also been ordered to pay $240,000 for being “knowingly concerned” in Dover’s conduct.
Dover had its AFSL cancelled by ASIC in September 2018 after it found that the protection policy provided to clients actually stripped them of protections by creating a “significant imbalance in the rights and obligations of the adviser and their client”, as well as prioritising the interests of the firm and its representatives over those of the clients.