The regulator issues a public warning about the financial advisor copying and pasting customer signatures

The regulator has issued a public warning regarding a financial advisor after copying and pasting customer signatures into insurance documents.

The Autorité des marchés financiers issued the warning after an investigation into Brian Ferguson, a registered financial adviser based in Palmerston North.

The FMA stated that Mr. Ferguson had breached section 34 of the Financial Advisers Act of 2008 because the conduct in question was misleading or deceptive, or likely to mislead or deceive.

He found two separate instances in which Ferguson had personally performed or asked a staff member to insert a client's signature on a document by creating a copy and physically saving it in the area. signature.

In one case, Ferguson had the client's consent. In the second case, he stated that this was done with the client's verbal consent.

The regulator said it had agreed that Ferguson's driving was not intended to mislead customers buying insurance policies.

But the conduct could mislead the insurer who did not know the substitution.

Liam Mason, director of regulation at the FMA, said that Ferguson's fault was serious and that it was significantly inferior to the care, diligence and skill that a reasonable financial advisor would exercise.

"This warning is made public in order to deter Mr. Ferguson and other market players from engaging in similar misconduct."

The misconduct occurred between October 2016 and April 2018, while he was employed or under contract with the Preferred New Zealand Insurance Broker.

The question was submitted to the FMA by Preferred NZ.

According to the Corporate Services Archive, Ferguson created a new company in February under the name of Total Client Solutions.