MAS issues 5-year prohibition order against ex-DBS representative for dishonest conduct
This comes after he was previously convicted for intentionally obstructing the course of justice
A FORMER representative of DBS was issued a five-year prohibition order by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) on Monday (May 20) for dishonest conduct.
Effective from Monday, Muhammad Hafiz Ismail will be barred from providing any financial advisory service, and from taking part in the management, acting as a director, or becoming a substantial shareholder, of any financial advisory firm, MAS said.
He is also not allowed to perform any regulated activity and take part in the management, acting as a director, or becoming a substantial shareholder, of any capital markets services firm.
The order was issued after Hafiz was previously convicted by the courts for intentionally obstructing the course of justice. He had also contravened the Financial Advisers Act and the Securities and Futures Act.
In January 2018, the police had informed Hafiz that his uncle had been arrested for theft-related offences. Hafiz then directed his colleague to move a safe belonging to his uncle from Hafiz’s business premises to prevent the police from locating the safe.
For his actions, Hafiz was sentenced to a one-week jail term on May 25, 2022 for abetting an offence of intentionally obstructing the course of justice.
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Additionally, Hafiz applied to be a wealth planning manager with DBS on Sep 8, 2020 while he was still under investigation for the earlier-mentioned offence.
However, Hafiz failed to state in his fit and proper declaration to the bank that he was under investigation. DBS then relied on his response in the declaration to certify to MAS that he was fit and proper to be a representative to the bank.
MAS said that by wilfully omitting such pertinent information in his declaration, Hafiz contravened the Financial Advisers Act and Securities and Futures Act.
“Mr Hafiz’s conviction and contraventions have given MAS reason to believe that he will not perform financial advisory and capital markets services honestly.
“While Mr Hafiz is no longer an appointed representative in Singapore, the prohibition order was issued against him to safeguard the integrity of and trust in Singapore’s financial sector,” said MAS.
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