MAS bans former insurance broker representative for dishonest conduct

SINGAPORE: A former insurance broker representative was handed four-year prohibition orders for dishonest conduct, after he sold insurance policies to three people despite not being authorised to do so.

The orders against Lau Man Chun took effect from Feb 22, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) said on Wednesday (Feb 24).

For the duration of the order, he is prohibited from providing any financial advisory service, or taking part in the management of, acting as a director of, or becoming a substantial shareholder of any financial advisory firm.

He is also not allowed to carry on business as, or take part in the management of, any insurance intermediary.

READ: MAS bans 2 former insurance agents for dishonest conduct

Lau worked at insurance broker Financial Alliance, which distributes personal accident policies offered by Liberty Insurance on an exclusive basis, from November 2014 to March 2018, MAS said.

He joined Manulife Financial Advisers in April 2018, where he was authorised to only advise on and sell life policies. He subsequently left in July 2019.

However, Lau had met three people in December 2018 to sell them Liberty’s personal accident policies, despite not being authorised to advise on or sell general insurance policies.

“Mr Lau obtained their signatures on blank policy proposal forms and collected S$100 cash from each person, as payment for the policy premiums,” MAS said.

Additionally, he falsified policy schedules when clients sought an update on their policy status to “give them the wrong impression that their policies had already been effected by Liberty”.

“The impact of Mr Lau’s actions on these persons was significant as they would not have succeeded in making a claim if the need arose,” the authority said.