A ban given to an Orange-based financial planner for making false statement in insurance applications has been upheld.
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PWM director Darren Tindall was banned by the Australian Securities and Investment Commission from providing financial advice for five years in December 2016.
An ASIC investigation found Mr Tindall failed to disclose a client’s pre-existing medical conditions on an insurance application submitted to an insurer, did not disclose the conditions in transferring the insurance to a new insurer and made misleading comparisons about superannuation products to four clients, which led to those clients to switch.
However, he took the decision to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal of Australia seeking a shorter ban.
Tribunal deputy president Bernard McCabe said Mr Tindall displayed an absence of insight into his behaviour and there was a need for general deterrence.
“The conduct had real consequences for the applicant’s clients,” Mr McCabe said.
“Taken with the rest of the evidence, in which he sought to shift the blame for what occurred, it is difficult to see what lesson he has drawn from everything that occurred.
“While he says he has been running a successful financial services business without any evidence of incident or complaint in more recent years, the lack of insight into his own behaviour that was on display during his oral testimony is a matter of real concern.”
Mr McCabe said by making false statements in the insurance applications, he either ignored his duty of disclosure or was not aware that he had such a duty.
“He prepared advice that included misleading information for clients and sought to blame his supervisors for providing inadequate training, failing to monitor and provide feedback in relation to his work, and for making inadequate software available,” he said.
He said Mr Tindall’s business and reputation suffered, and his capacity to earn an income was reduced.
The concerns dated from May 2013 to May 2014, when he worked for another Orange financial service.
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