Written reply to Parliamentary Question on enhancing penalties against bank employees who engage in poor or misleading sales and advisory practices

Date: For Parliament Sitting on 7 May 2024

Name and Constituency of Member of Parliament

Mr Dennis Tan Lip Fong, MP, Hougang SMC

Question:

To ask the Prime Minister whether the Government will consider enhancing existing penalties against bank employees who are found to have engaged in poor sales and advisory practices, having mis-sold banking products to customers in cases brought to the Financial Industry Disputes Resolution Centre.

Answer by Mr Lawrence Wong, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance, and Chairman of MAS:

1. MAS investigates and takes firm enforcement actions against errant financial institutions and their representatives. This is independent of whether the case is lodged with the Financial Industry Disputes Resolution Centre.

2. Under the Financial Advisers Act, when providing advisory services to their customers, financial advisory representatives must, amongst other things, disclose material product information, have a reasonable basis for making recommendations, and not make false or misleading statements. Where mis-selling has taken place, MAS may take a range of enforcement actions, depending on the severity of the case. These include public reprimands, composition penalties, and prohibition orders. In egregious cases, MAS will refer the matter to the Attorney-General's Chambers for criminal prosecution. Where more serious criminal offences such as cheating under the Penal Code are disclosed, MAS will also refer the matter to the Singapore Police Force for investigation.

3. MAS has in the past imposed prohibition orders of up to 7 years for mis-selling. Such prohibition orders bar the person from conducting regulated financial services for the duration of the order. MAS publishes its enforcement actions to send a deterrent signal to the industry of its stance towards misconduct by financial services professionals. MAS will continue to review and update existing penalties where necessary, and take robust actions against misconduct in the financial services industry.

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