ASIC bans former Madison Financial adviser


A former planner with Madison Financial Group has been banned by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) for five and half years after failing to comply with financial services laws.
ASIC banned Michael Kolody, from Morwell in Victoria, after it found he was not adequately trained or competent to provide financial advice and had failed to comply with the financial services laws in his provision of personal financial advice and recommendations to retail clients on financial products including superannuation and shares.
An ASIC review of Kolody's client files found he had provided advice to a number of clients that was not appropriate to their personal circumstances and prepared documents that may have mislead clients about their legal entitlements.
ASIC also found Kolody had failed to maintain adequate records of his advice or provide clients with a Statement of Advice that adequately set out the basis on which his advice was given and did not provide appropriate replacement product advice and disclosure when advising clients to move from one financial product to another.
Kolody was also found to have provided inadequate information on some commissions he received, and has not been in the financial services sector since March 2014.
ASIC said Kolody's misconduct occurred between July 2010 and January 2014 when he was an authorised representative of Madison Financial Group Pty Ltd with ASIC, Deputy Chair, Peter Kell stating Kolody's conduct was "a clear failure to protect the interests of his clients"
Kolody has the right to appeal to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal for a review of ASIC's decision.
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