Australia’s corporate regulator has banned New South Wales solicitor and accountant Christopher Malcolm Edwards from providing financial services for 10 years, after finding he operated without the required licence and steered clients into products issued by companies he controlled.
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) said the prohibition, effective from 15 September 2025, also prevents Mr Edwards from controlling, alone or with others, any entity carrying on a financial services business, and from performing any functions involved in the operation of such a business over the same period. The decision has been recorded on ASIC’s banned and disqualified register.
ASIC’s concerns centre on Mr Edwards carrying on a financial services business without an Australian Financial Services (AFS) licence by arranging for clients to set up self-managed superannuation funds (SMSFs), rollover superannuation into those SMSFs and invest the money in debentures issued by companies he controls. A review of a sample of his clients identified that he provided financial product advice over a four‑year period with sufficient system, repetition and continuity to amount to carrying on a financial services business without the required authorisation.
The regulator said Mr Edwards’ approach to his accounting and legal clients, including recommendations that they invest in his own companies, presented an inherent and significant conflict of interest. ASIC cited his professional obligations to clients as a solicitor and/or accountant on the one hand, and his personal interest in securing funding for property developments on the other.
As a result of its findings, ASIC said it has reasons to believe Mr Edwards is not a fit and proper person to provide financial services or to be involved in an entity that carries on a financial services business, does not have the judgement, skill or character to participate in the Australian financial services industry, and is likely to contravene a financial services law.
Mr Edwards has the right to appeal to the Administrative Review Tribunal for a review of ASIC’s decision. ASIC said its investigation into his conduct is ongoing.
According to ASIC, Mr Edwards is a solicitor, registered tax agent, registered SMSF auditor and registered real estate agent. He provides legal and accounting services, real estate and mortgage broking, and is involved in property development. He operates as a sole trader in Richmond, NSW, under the name Christopher M Edwards Solicitors and Accountants, and does not hold qualifications relating to financial planning.
ASIC said Mr Edwards raised funds from clients for property developments in NSW and Queensland by arranging “Deeds of Agreement” between clients and companies he controls. Under those deeds, clients provided money for three or four years in return for an undertaking to repay their capital and a fixed rate of interest, with interest in some cases paid quarterly. The regulator found the deeds are debentures and therefore financial products under the Corporations Act.
Since 1 July 2016, accountants must be covered by an AFS licence to give advice about acquiring or disposing of an interest in an SMSF, either by holding a licence or by being a representative of a licensee. ASIC said Mr Edwards had knowledge of the former Accountants’ Exemption and the need for authorisation to provide financial product advice, and that he was aware he was not authorised to give such advice.
Mr Edwards is not currently authorised to provide financial services. ASIC noted he had previously been authorised to provide limited financial services, and that the banning will prevent him becoming authorised and providing financial services in future.
