The Australian Securities & Investments Commission said its Financial Services and Credit Panel has cancelled the registration of financial adviser Peter Morrison-Dowd with effect from 10 July 2026 and ordered that he not be registered as a relevant provider until after 13 September 2027. During that period, he is prohibited from providing personal advice to retail clients on relevant financial products. The panel formed a reasonable belief that Mr Morrison-Dowd breached the best interests duty, the appropriate advice obligation and the requirement on the timing of giving a Statement of Advice in relation to three clients, and failed to give a Statement of Advice in relation to two clients. It found he did not follow a proper best interests advice process, including failing for two clients to adequately identify their objectives, financial situation and needs and to assess suitable alternatives. The recommendations were found to be inappropriate because they exposed clients to unsuitable levels of risk, including placing a significant portion of one client's relatively low self-managed super fund balance into high-risk or illiquid products and recommending investments for two other clients that were inconsistent with their risk profile and asset allocation. The panel also found that he made false or misleading statements to two clients, including target returns and guaranteed outcomes without an adequate factual basis, and failed to comply with the Code of Ethics in relation to three clients. It said a registration prohibition order was appropriate given the seriousness of the contraventions and the potential impact on two clients' retirement savings, despite there being no current client loss.

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