ob体育 has banned Northern NSW-based financial adviser David O鈥橞rien from providing financial services for four years following an ob体育 surveillance.
Mr O鈥橞rien was an authorised representative of AMP-owned Charter Financial Planning Limited, and most recently, NAB-owned GWM Adviser Services Limited.
ob体育鈥檚 review of a sample of Mr O鈥橞rien鈥檚 advice files found that he failed to:
- make sufficient inquiries into his clients鈥櫬燾ircumstances;
- conduct reasonable investigations into their existing聽financial products; and
- provide advice based on his clients鈥� personal聽circumstances.
ob体育 found that when providing advice on superannuation, Mr O鈥橞rien made no inquiries into matters such as costs, investment strategy, or whether his clients already had any insurance in place within their existing superannuation arrangements.
When providing insurance advice, Mr O鈥橞rien failed to prepare a needs analysis or objectively assess what level of insurance cover would achieve his clients鈥� needs. One of Mr O鈥橞rien鈥檚 clients had their cover declined for pre-existing medical conditions after their existing insurance had been cancelled, leaving them uninsured.
Financial advisers have a legal obligation to act in the best interests of their clients when providing personal advice. This includes taking reasonable steps to understand their clients鈥� personal circumstances and exploring existing financial products to ensure they are providing appropriate advice that meets their clients鈥� objectives.
The banning of Mr O鈥橞rien is part of ob体育鈥檚 ongoing efforts to improve standards across the financial services industry. It will be recorded on ob体育's publicly available and the Banned and Disqualified Persons Register.
Mr O鈥橞rien has the right to appeal to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal for a review of ob体育鈥檚 decision.
ob体育's MoneySmart website has useful information for consumers about , how to complain about a financial adviser and what to do if their .
Background
The banning of Mr O鈥橞rien falls within ob体育's Wealth Management Major Financial Institutions Portfolio. The Portfolio focuses on the financial services conduct of Australia's largest financial institutions (NAB, Westpac, CBA, ANZ, Macquarie and AMP) with respect to credit and retail lending, financial advice, fees for no service, superannuation trustees, insurance, unfair contract terms and other licensee obligations.
As part of this work, ob体育 has banned 64 advisers and three directors from the financial services industry. Five bannings are the subject of appeal.