The Australian Securities & Investments Commission has banned Brett Anthony Newbound from any credit or financial services activity for 10 years and cancelled the Australian financial services licence and Australian credit licence of Freedom Wealth Services Pty Ltd. The action follows ASIC findings that service agreements and file notes were used to justify charging ongoing service fees in a way that did not accurately reflect client authority or interactions. ASIC found that, in three instances, Mr Newbound relied on service agreements containing client signatures that ASIC determined had not been provided by the clients and created, or caused to be created, file notes that did not accurately reflect client interactions. Based on that conduct, ASIC determined that Mr Newbound did not meet the statutory requirement to be a fit and proper person to participate in the credit and financial services industries. The ban and the licence cancellations took effect on 1 May 2025. Mr Newbound and Freedom Wealth Services Pty Ltd have appealed ASIC's decision to the Administrative Review Tribunal, and no hearing date had been set at the time of the release. Their applications for a stay and for confidentiality orders were dismissed by the Tribunal on 16 June 2026.
Australian Securities & Investments Commission2026-06-19
Australian Securities & Investments Commission bans Brett Newbound for 10 years and cancels Freedom Wealth Services licences
The Australian Securities & Investments Commission has banned adviser Brett Newbound from credit and financial services activities for 10 years and cancelled the Australian financial services and credit licences of Freedom Wealth Services Pty Ltd. ASIC found that, in three cases, client signatures were not provided by the clients and file notes did not accurately reflect client interactions, with the documents used to justify ongoing service fees. The decisions took effect on 1 May 2025 and are under appeal.