The Australian Securities & Investments Commission (ASIC) has cancelled the Australian Financial Services (AFS) licence of MWL Financial Services Pty Ltd (MWL) and banned its director Nicholas Maikousis from providing financial services for 10 years, citing serious compliance failures and unmanaged conflicts of interest tied to advice recommending the Shield Master Fund (Shield). ASIC found MWL ran a “low cost advice project” from 2021 to obtain referrals from telemarketers and lead generators and to recommend clients invest their superannuation in Shield, with more than 750 clients investing a collective AUD 155 million between September 2021 and February 2024. ASIC found MWL failed to take reasonable steps to ensure advice was appropriate and in clients’ best interests, used template statements of advice containing misleading representations about Shield’s past performance, and did not properly assess Shield before adding it to its approved product list. The firm was also found to have been incentivised to recommend Shield, to have undisclosed bonus arrangements with advisers who recommended it, to have not disclosed some lead generator arrangements in statements of advice or Financial Services Guides, to have inadequate conflict management arrangements, and to have failed to advise clients of their right to complain to the Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA). Mr Maikousis’s banning order takes effect from 25 September 2025 and also prohibits him from controlling an entity carrying on a financial services business or performing functions involved in such a business. MWL and Mr Maikousis may apply to the Administrative Review Tribunal for review of ASIC’s decisions. As part of the licence cancellation, ASIC required MWL to remain a member of AFCA and maintain professional indemnity insurance until 25 August 2026, and indicated clients intending to complain to AFCA about MWL advice should do so by 25 August 2026.

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