FSRA clamps down on Ontario agent after false filings and misconduct

Ontario regulator linked mortgage and insurance misconduct in one settlement

FSRA clamps down on Ontario agent after false filings and misconduct

The Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario (FSRA) refused to renew the insurance licence of Ontario agent Jasneet Singh Bajwa and set strict conditions on any future mortgage agent licence. FSRA found repeated false statements, missing errors and omissions coverage, and serious product suitability problems across his business.

Bajwa had been licensed as a level 2 mortgage agent since February 2022 and previously held a life and accident and sickness insurance licence from 2015 until October 2023.

He was sponsored by Greater Toronto Mortgages & Financial Services Corp. and affiliated with World Financial Group Insurance Agency of Canada, ivari and Industrial Alliance (iA).

High-volume sales triggered insurer probe

iA suspended Bajwa in November 2022 while it investigated what it described as a “very high volume” of business compared with prior years. The insurer later found that “of approximately 21 contracts sold, only one was still in force; Bajwa failed to establish the suitability of the products he sold; there were significant discrepancies in the signatures on documents submitted; 16 of 19 driver’s licences used to verify client identities were invalid; and there were unconvincing or nonexistent answers from Bajwa to iA’s questions.”

“Between October 11, 2022 and November 8, 2022, Bajwa submitted 16 insurance applications for clients which contained false information,” the settlement said.

His relationships with iA, WFG and ivari were terminated in 2023 and he “has been charged back for commissions earned on all 22 of the contracts he sold. The chargebacks total approximately $70,217.35.”

False answers on renewal forms and E&O gap

Regulators also focused on his disclosures and basic risk protection. Bajwa admitted “he did not have valid E&O insurance for his insurance agent licence from August 2023 to October 23, 2023 when his licence expired.”

On his November 2023 insurance renewal application, Bajwa “falsely stated he would be conducting business with iA” and “falsely indicated that he had not had a business relationship terminated for, among other things, breach of trust or fraud.”

On his March 2024 mortgage agent renewal, he again “falsely indicated that he had not had a business relationship terminated for, among other things, breach of trust or fraud,” despite multiple terminations.

Yet he certified that “providing false, misleading or incomplete information may be sufficient grounds to revoke or refuse to renew a licence.”

Conditions highlight suitability and principal broker duties

Under the settlement, FSRA refused his life and accident and sickness licence renewal and confirmed that he was “no longer suitable to be licensed” under the Insurance Act.

It also agreed that any future mortgage agent licence would carry conditions: “All mortgages arranged by Bajwa must be reviewed by his Principal Broker”; he could not access client files unless directly involved; he must file a quarterly statement with FSRA, signed with his principal broker, confirming compliance; and he “shall not apply for a mortgage broker licence for a period of two years from the date of the Order.”

FSRA recently revoked a brokerage licence and imposed $430,000 in penalties in another case where unsuitable, high-fee mortgages harmed vulnerable borrowers.

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