ASIC has banned a life insurance financial adviser and former authorised representative of Neo Financial Solutions Pty Ltd from providing financial services for three years.
ASIC’s action against Lukas Zelka is part of ongoing investigations and enforcement and regulatory action following ASIC’s review of life insurance advice (refer: 14-263MR).
ASIC Deputy Chairman Peter Kell said, ‘ASIC is focused on weeding out advisers who fail to meet industry and community expectations. We want to ensure that consumers seeking life insurance can be confident that their adviser will provide appropriate advice.’
ASIC found Mr Zelka’s advice relating to the replacement of personal insurances did not meet the standards expected of a financial adviser and that he had failed to comply with financial services laws.
An ASIC review of client files found Mr Zelka had:
- failed to act in the best interest of his clients by not giving adequate consideration to the information he had obtained about their relevant circumstances, including their existing insurance
- failed to provide appropriate advice
- failed to have a reasonable basis for advice, and
- relied excessively on template statements of advice containing prepopulated information, failing to tailor them to the client’s specific circumstances which led to false and misleading statements being made.
All clients who have concerns about the advice they received from Mr Zelka are advised to contact the financial services licensee under which Mr Zelka gave the advice.
Mr Zelka has the right to appeal to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal for a review of ASIC’s decision.
Background
Outcomes following ASIC’s review of life insurance advice include: