Ontario’s financial services regulator has initiated enforcement action against insurance agent Manpreet Kaur Dhillon.
A notice of proposal to refuse the renewal of Dhillon’s license has been issued in response to alleged breaches of the Insurance Act and related regulations.
According to the Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA) of Ontario, Dhillon failed to complete mandatory continuing education (CE) requirements, in addition to engaging in fraudulent acts and practices.
FSRA’s notice outlined how Dhillon allegedly provided two false documents to show that she had completed the required CE hours for the 2019-2021 licensing period.
The regulator said it had obtained information that refuted the validity of the documents, citing an email it had received from Success Continuing Education stating there were “no courses completed within the time period of 2019/08/25-2021/08/24.”
In February, Dhillon was sent a written notice of a pending summary administrative penalty for failure to complete her CE requirement, according to FSRA.
She was also given the opportunity to provide written submissions but maintained that she had purchased CE courses for the 2019-2021 licensing period.
FSRA later issued an order imposing a penalty of $1,000 against Dhillon, for which she filed a notice of appeal with the Financial Services Tribunal.
Success additionally confirmed in May that Dhillon had not taken the two courses referred to in the documents she submitted.
“Dhillon has been licensed since 2017 and is well aware of the CE requirement,” FSRA said in its notice. “Instead of complying with the requirement, Dhillon chose to make a material misstatement in the 2021 renewal application and submit false documentation to support that misstatement.”
Dhillon has requested a hearing before the Financial Services Tribunal regarding the proposal, according to the regulator.
FSRA has been set on strengthening oversight within life & health space after it released compliance reports that highlighted “troubling business practices” in relation to agent recruitment, training, and conduct.
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