A former Commonwealth Bank financial planner has been banned from the industry for five years after the corporate regulator alleged she cut customer signatures from documents kept on file and pasted them onto new documents.
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The Australian Securities and Investments Commission on Thursday said it had banned Kimberly Holgate, of Wagga Wagga, for conduct that was likely to mislead clients, and was not in their best interests.
Ms Holgate was an authorised representative of CBA's Commonwealth Financial Planning business (CFPL) between January 2014 and October 2015, when she was reported by CBA to ASIC and dismissed.
In a statement, ASIC said it found that Ms Holgate had "engaged in conduct that was likely to mislead by cutting clients' signatures from documents held on file and pasting them onto new documents."
As well as cutting and pasting signatures, Ms Holgate also advised clients to switch their superannuation to products issued by CBA-owned Colonial First State, even though this advice did not improve the client's financial position, ASIC said.
Ms Holgate also advised customers to cancel their existing insurance policies, and take out cover with CBA-owned CommInsure, ASIC said.
The regulator said she cancelled some clients' existing policies before replacement cover was approved, leaving some people uninsured, and others facing higher premiums and fees.
ASIC said Ms Holgate had failed to prioritise the interests of clients by advising them to take out products that benefited her and the bank financially.
A spokeswoman for CBA said the bank had reported Ms Holgate's behaviour to ASIC in October 2015, and it had no tolerance for unethical behaviour.
"CFPL self-reported its concerns to ASIC regarding Kimberley Holgate's misconduct in October 2015," the spokeswoman said.
"CFPL has conducted a review of all advice provided by Ms Holgate and offered compensation to customers who were found to have suffered financial loss as a result of poor advice or her improper conduct."
The bank had assisted ASIC throughout its investigation, and it fully supported the regulator's action in this case, the spokeswoman said.
Commonwealth Bank's financial planning businesses opened up a sweeping compensation scheme for customers in 2014 after a scathing Senate inquiry into the bank's advice businesses.
The scheme was wrapped up last year, paying out $29 million in compensation to customers.
Last year CBA announced it was scaling back its presence in wealth management with the sale of its life insurance business, though it will remain in financial advice.
