Adviser banned for falsifying exam results
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has banned a Sydney-based adviser for changing the result of his financial adviser exam.
Todd Karamian was banned from providing financial services and carrying on a financial services business after it was found he falsified the results of his financial adviser exam.
In December 2021, Karamian had changed his financial adviser certificate from a fail result to a pass and sent the altered certificate to his licensee, Bluepoint Consulting.
Moreover, ASIC discovered that the adviser provided personal advice to 11 retail clients between 31 December 2021 to 9 September 2022 when he was not authorised to do so.
Karamian was a co-founder of Bluepoint Consulting, with 20 years experience in the industry within wealth advisory and management.
The regulator found that the adviser was not competent or fit and proper to provide financial services.
He would be prevented from providing any advice, managing an entity that carries on a financial advice firm or performing any role in a financial advice business.
Karamian had the right to appeal for a review to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal based on ASIC’s decision.
Since 1 January 2019, professional standards had been applied to financial advisers, including the requirement to pass the Financial Advisers Exam (FA Exam). Advisers were required to pass the exam before 1 January 2022 to be able to continue to provide personal advice to retail clients on relevant financial products.
ASIC identified Karamian’s conduct through a proactive review of individuals listed as current financial advisers on the FAR despite not having passed the FA Exam by 1 January 2022 (or 1 October 2022 where the financial adviser qualified for the extension).
As a result of this proactive review, the relevant AFS licensees (or where necessary, ASIC) have corrected the authorisation status or cease dates of over 1,300 individuals, so the FAR reflected accurate information to consumers.
AUTHOR
Jasmine Siljic
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I think ego overrode common sense