The Financial Services Commission of Ontario (FSCO) recently revoked a life agent’s license after his employer found irregularities in his handling of clients’ funds.
In its decision dated May 15, the Ontario regulator revoked the license of Nigel Scott, after his employer discovered issues with his handling of client funds. According to the decision, Scott worked as an agent for an unnamed insurance company, which reviewed his premium fund account and “found irregularities in the handling of money.”
It says that the review also found that Scott had comingled company and personal business funds. “Mr. Scott admitted to the insurance company that he had transferred funds from the premium account to cover business expenses. The review also found that customers were negatively affected and the insurance company issued refunds to those customers,” it notes.
As a result of this evidence, the Superintendent of Financial Services ordered his license revoked, concluding that he “does not have a satisfactory record in business, is not trustworthy and of good character, and accordingly is not suitable to continue to be licensed as an insurance agent.”
FSCO’s order indicates that Scott was offered the opportunity for a hearing to dispute the allegations. It says that he did not so. “In the absence of testimony by Mr. Scott, I am unable to consider any explanations for his behaviour or mitigating circumstances,” the decision says.
Also, the superintendent found that, in the absence of an explanation, it couldn’t consider imposing a suspension and other conditions on his license, instead of outright revocation. “Since Mr. Scott did not request a hearing, there is no means to assess whether his behaviour would be susceptible to remediation through licence conditions and a period of suspension,” it said, adding, “I note that Mr. Scott did not alter his behaviour following the first review by the insurance company, and accordingly there can be no reasonable expectation of remediation.”