A public notice issued by the MAS on Wednesday revealed that – between 2011 and 2013 – the financial consulting firm had been in breach of the Financial Advisers Act (FAA) for failing to ensure its representatives were licensed before giving financial advice.
Mercer also let employees arrange insurance contracts when they had not yet passed the applicable modules of the Capital Markets and Financial Advisory Services exam.
Therefore the firm also contravened the rules on minimum entry and examination requirements for representatives of licensed financial advisers.
The Singapore regulator said: “All financial institutions shall ensure that they do not permit any individual to provide any type of financial advisory service on their behalf unless the individual is an appointed or provisional representative in respect of that type of financial advisory service.”
Mercer has been fined S$15,000 ($10,600, £6,950, €9,530) for breaching the regulations.
Deeply regret
A spokesperson for Mercer said: “We deeply regret any contraventions against certain regulations in the FAA and we have fully accepted the offer of composition from the MAS. We wish to stress that we take our regulatory obligations very seriously.
“Since 2013 we have worked to enhance our policies and procedures to the satisfaction of the authorities, to prevent any future occurrence and to ensure that we continue to maintain the trust placed in us by our clients and business counterparties.”
