The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has cancelled the Australian Financial Services (AFS) licence of Financial Services Group Australia Pty Ltd (FSGA), effective 7 June 2025 and permanently banned FSGA’s Responsible Manager (RM) Graham Holmes.

ASIC cancelled the AFS licence of FSGA after ASIC determined that FSGA had failed to:

• take reasonable steps to ensure that two of its representatives provided financial product advice that was appropriate to the client’s circumstances or in the client’s best interests, in relation to certain instances of advice
• have available adequate financial and human resources to provide the financial services covered by the licence and to carry out supervisory arrangements
• maintain the competence to provide the financial services covered by the licence
• lodge its financial statements and auditor’s reports on time
• lodge breach reports with ASIC, and
• comply with a condition on its licence that required FSGA to have total assets that exceeded total liabilities, in respect of financial years 2022 and 2023.

Although the FSGA licence is cancelled, ASIC specified that FSGA must still remain a member of AFCA and maintain professional indemnity insurance until 4 June 2026.

If you are a client of FSGA and have concerns about the conduct of your adviser or the advice you received, you should consider lodging a complaint with the Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA). AFCA is the external dispute resolution scheme for financial complaints in Australia and must deal with complaints independently and fairly. AFCA’s service is free for consumers.

AFCA can be contacted by:

• calling 1800 931 678 for free (9am – 5pm Melbourne time), or
• lodging a complaint online on AFCA’s website.

AFCA will consider your complaint if it meets the eligibility criteria.

Important deadline: In cancelling FSGA’s licence, ASIC required FSGA to remain a member of AFCA until 4 June 2026. If you intend to lodge a complaint with AFCA in relation to advice received from FSGA you should do so by 4 June 2026.

ASIC also permanently banned FSGA’s RM Graham Holmes from providing any financial services, performing any function involved in the carrying on of a financial services business, and controlling an entity that carries on a financial services business.

The regulator found that Mr Holmes had been involved in the contravention of a financial services law by FSGA, including FSGA’s failure to take reasonable steps to ensures its representatives acted in the best interests of clients and to give appropriate advice to clients.

ASIC also found that Mr Holmes had accepted to be FSGA’s RM ‘on paper’ only and to receive RM fees, when he knew he was not fulfilling his duties as an RM. ASIC therefore had reason to believe Mr Holmes is not a fit and proper person to participate in the financial services industry.

The responsible manager’s role is derived from the obligation in s 912A(1)(e) of the Corporations Act 2001 for AFS licensees to establish and maintain organisational competence to provide the financial services offered by the AFS licensee.

Individuals who are nominated by AFS licensees as responsible managers must have direct responsibility for significant day-to-day decisions about the financial services the licensee provides.