Paul Reynolds, who currently works for Holborn Assets, was due to appear before the Upper Tribunal in London on Monday and Tuesday this week.
He did not work for Holborn at the time the products were allegedly mis-sold.
In earlier hearings he chose to represent himself, but he has now instructed lawyers to act on his behalf in the case which could see him fined more than £290,000 and banned from the industry.
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has said it will not disclose who is representing Reynolds.
The FCA’s decision against the IFA, published in October, was referred to the Tribunal which will decide whether to uphold, vary or cancel the judgement.
Reynolds, who founded Aspire Personal Finance, has been accused of mis-selling unregulated collective investment schemes (UCIS) and geared-traded endowment policies (GTEPs) to eight clients between 2005 and 2010.
During this time he is alleged to have forged signatures, produced false and misleading documents on behalf of investors without their knowledge, and masked the poor performance of investments he had recommended to clients by inflating valuations.
In total Reynolds’ clients – who had little or no investment experience – invested £1.5m in GTEPs and at least £591,480 in UCIS.
Reynolds tried to prevent the FCA from publishing the decision notice by applying to the Tribunal, which subsequently rejected his application.
The notice said Reynolds had “recklessly recommended” high risk products, “when he knew that he could not justify their suitability”. He also made false statements to the FCA, including during a “compelled interview”.
A new date for the hearing is yet to be set.
