Regulatory Alerts2025-07-30
ASIC bans Ian Potter for five years for failure to supervise provisional relevant provider
ASIC has banned Ian Potter from providing financial services for five years due to his inadequate supervision of a provisional relevant provider at Superannuation Advice Australia. The regulator found that advice provided under Mr Potter's supervision was not in clients' best interests, relied on templated documents, and failed to make reasonable inquiries into individual circumstances. This banning order, effective from 25 July 2025, holds Mr Potter liable for the contraventions committed by the provisional provider he was required to oversee.
ASIC has banned Ian Wailes Potter from providing any financial services, controlling an entity that carries on a financial services business, and performing any function involved in the carrying on of a financial services business for five years.
Mr Potter has been banned for his conduct while he was a financial adviser and nominated supervisor of a provisional relevant provider (PRP) at Superannuation Advice Australia Pty Ltd.
Mr Potter was also a responsible manager of AAN Wealth Management Pty Ltd, the Australian financial services licensee of Superannuation Advice Australia during the period he was a nominated supervisor.
In a review of advice provided by the PRP under Mr Potter’s supervision, ASIC found that the financial advice was not in the clients’ best interests and was not appropriate for them because:
reasonable inquiries were not made into the clients’ relevant circumstances;
there was no demonstrated need to move to another superannuation product to meet the clients’ superannuation objectives; and
the projection graphs and tables provided a distorted comparison of the existing fund to the recommended fund.
ASIC also found that the documents on the client files were substantially similar and the advice provided was templated without proper consideration of each client’s unique personal and financial circumstances, needs and objectives.
As the supervisor of the PRP, Mr Potter is liable for the contraventions of the PRP.
ASIC also found that Mr Potter’s supervision of the PRP was inadequate and that documents required by the Corporations (Work and Training Professional Year Standard) Determination 2018 (Determination) were incomplete, unsigned or insufficient to satisfy the requirements of the Determination.
The banning order took effect from 25 July 2025.
Mr Potter’s banning has been recorded on ASIC’s Banned and Disqualified Register.
Mr Potter has the right to appeal the decision to the Administrative Review Tribunal.
Background
Provisional relevant providers can only provide personal advice to retail clients on a supervised basis during their professional year. The professional year is a year of work and training, equivalent to 1,600 hours, at least 100 hours of which must be structured training. The supervisor of a provisional relevant provider must be a relevant provider with at least 2 years’ experience working as a relevant provider.
The supervisor must ensure appropriate supervision is provided to the provisional relevant provider and must approve, in writing, any statement of advice provided by the provisional relevant provider to a retail client.
For the purposes of the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth), personal advice provided by a provisional relevant provider to a retail client is taken to have been provided by the supervisor of the provisional relevant provider.
The Corporations (Work and Training Professional Year Standard) Determination 2018 sets out the requirements that apply to the professional year, including the requirements for supervisors and AFS licensees to ensure a provisional relevant provider’s professional year is undertaken in accordance with the determination. The professional year is in place to ensure individuals are competent and capable of providing quality financial advice to consumers.