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A former New Zealand financial adviser has admitted to breaching a stop order imposed by the Financial Markets Authority.

David McEwen pleaded guilty to all charges relating to breaching the stop order and will be sentenced on January 14, the authority said in a statement this morning.

The authority had filed criminal charges against McEwen in December last year for breaching a stop order by continuing to make offers of financial products and take contributions.

The permanent stop was issued by the authority against McEwen and a number of related entities in December 2023 over concerns of a risk of investor harm.

The authority has previously told former or existing clients of McEwen and associated entities or subscribers to look at the publication McEwen Investment Report to check their credit and debit card statements for possible unauthorised payments.

This came after the authority received complaints from McEwen’s clients in which it was suspected credit and debit card payments had been made on their accounts without their authority.

McEwen was previously based in Auckland and operated various entities, some of which had been removed from the Companies Register.

The authority had previously issued warnings about financial products and related advice provided by McEwen, or his associated entities.

It had also previously made a stop order after finding certain communications made by McEwen and associates relating to offers of financial products were false or misleading, or likely to mislead or confuse, contained a material misdescription or material error or didn’t otherwise comply with the Financial Markets Conduct Act, it said.

The Financial Markets Authority (FMA) continued to recommend investors report it to the authority if they were contacted by McEwen, or entities associated with him, in relation to the offer of a financial product, FMA head of enforcement Margot Gatland said today.

McEwen’s associated entities included Stockfox Limited, Cosmopolitan Holdings Limited, Strategy Services Limited, Fund Administration Services Limited, Digitech 1 Limited, M and A Holdings 1 Limited, M and A Holdings 2 Limited, Agtech 1 Limited, Agtech 2 Limited, Agtech 3 Limited, Startight Holdings Limited, Innovative Capital Limited and McEwen’s Limited Partnership – some of which have been removed from the Companies Register.

“Ultimately, confident participation in the financial markets can only exist if an intrinsic level of market integrity exists,” Gatland said, “which stop order provisions serve to facilitate.”

On social media, McEwen described himself as having more than 30 years’ experience watching the markets and now specialised in “timely commentary on shares that I classify through nine key assessment criteria”, the Herald reported in September.

He previously worked for the National Business Review between 1992 and 1996.