The regulator found that Trevor John Seymour of Campbelltown New South Wales, a former director of Provident Capital Limited, breached his duties as a director and failed to comply with financial services laws.
Provident Capital, which went into receivership on 3 July 2012 and into liquidation on 24 October 2012, operated a mortgage fund under a wholesale facility with Bendigo and Adelaide Bank and two managed investment schemes. Seymour was a director of the funder from 25 May 1998 to 17 December 2013.
The ASIC investigation found that Seymour breached his obligations as a director of Provident Capital and engaged in conduct that was misleading or deceptive in relation to financial products, by approving a number of documents issued by the funder.
The documents included 15 quarterly and seven benchmark reports issued to ASIC and Australian Executor Trustees Limited which contained misleading or deceptive statements, a debenture prospectus in December 2010 which contained misleading or deceptive statements, and information booklets in 2012 which were deficient.
“Directors of financial services companies have a clear responsibility to ensure the company provides accurate and credible information upon which investors can rely. ASIC will act to remove people who fail in their corporate governance and compliance obligations, for the protection of the public,” ASIC Commissioner John Price said.
According to ASIC, Seymour has filed an application with the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) for a review of ASIC's decision. ASIC’s investigation is continuing.
