B.C. regulator fines mortgage broker $66K over failure to share complete financial information
A B.C. mortgage broker has been ordered to pay nearly $66,000 to a provincial regulator for misconduct.
In a decision issued late last month and posted online last week, the BC Financial Services Authority imposed the penalty on mortgage broker John Hawkins Anderson. A previous decision finding that Anderson had committed conduct "prejudicial to the public interest" was issued in August.
The misconduct in question occurred in 2020 and involved four mortgage applications Anderson submitted that failed to disclose some of the financial liabilities of the prospective borrowers.
On two of the applications, he also failed to verify the accuracy of the borrowers' information.
Summarizing Anderson's offences in his decision on penalties, BCFSA hearing officer Andrew Pendray described the mortgage broker as telling investigators the information he omitted "didn't matter" and "wouldn't have affected anything, anyway."
"Mr. Anderson appears to have concluded that it was open to him to determine what financial liability he was required to provide to a prospective lender, and what financial liability information could be left out," Pendray's decision reads.
"That conclusion is not one that is conducive to the efficient operation of the mortgage marketplace, nor is it one that, if allowed to continue in the industry, will allow for the protection of the public as a whole. While it is true that there was not, in this case, any significant harm or financial loss to the public, the risk of such a loss occurring is, in my view, readily apparent if such an attitude on the part of a registrant were allowed to stand unchecked by the regulator."
The hearing officer concluded that Anderson's actions "created a significant risk of adverse outcomes" for both the mortgage applicants he represented – who may not have been able to afford their payments – and the mortgage lenders, who could have funded mortgages based on incorrect information.
"I find Mr. Anderson’s apparent views in this regard to be incorrect on their face, and to be contrary to the overarching goal of the mortgage regulatory system, that being the protection of the public," the decision reads. "In my view, it is clear that specific deterrence is required in order to ensure that Mr. Anderson’s views in this regard be put to rest."
To that end, Pendray determined that a fine "at the maximum end" of the BCFSA's scale would be appropriate. He ordered Anderson to pay a $50,000 penalty, which was the amount requested by investigators.
Pendray also ordered Anderson to pay for the cost of the investigation into his conduct, though the hearing officer did not grant investigators all of the costs they were seeking.
Though they had "substantial success," investigators did not prove all of the allegations they brought against Anderson, Pendray noted, adding that some of the expenses investigators had claimed were for matters that were not, ultimately, brought to a hearing.
Instead of the $18,137.05 in costs investigators were seeking, Pendray ordered Anderson to pay $15,987.05, bringing the total the broker must pay the BCFSA to $65,987.05.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Loblaw leaders push back on 'misguided criticism' of grocer as boycott begins
Loblaw's new chief executive, as well as chairman Galen Weston, pushed back on what they called 'misguided criticism' of the grocer as a push to boycott the company gains steam online.
TD Bank hit with $9.2M penalty after failing to report suspicious transactions
Canada's financial intelligence agency says it has levied a $9.2-million penalty against The Toronto-Dominion Bank for non-compliance with money laundering and terrorist financing measures as the bank also faces compliance investigations in the U.S.
Orangutan observed treating wound using medicinal plant in world first
Scientists working in Indonesia have observed an orangutan intentionally treating a wound on their face with a medicinal plant, the first time this behavior has been documented.
This Canadian restaurant just lowered its prices. Here's how it did it
A Canadian restaurant lowered its prices this week, and though news of price tags dropping rather than climbing sounds unusual, the business strategy in this case is not, according to experts in the field.
There's a limit to how much interest rates in Canada and U.S. can diverge: Macklem
Bank of Canada governor Tiff Macklem says Canadian interest rates don't have to match U.S. or global rates, but there is a limit to how much they can diverge.
Prince William and Kate release photo of daughter Charlotte to mark ninth birthday
Prince William and his wife Kate released a picture of their daughter Charlotte to mark the princess's ninth birthday on Thursday.
Doctors concerned about potential spread of bird flu in Canada
H5N1 or avian flu has been detected at dozens of U.S. dairy farms and Canadian experts are urging surveillance on our side of the border too.
Airbnb's Icons allow you to drift off in the 'Up' house or rest in Prince's 'Purple Rain' mansion
The vacation destination rental company announced a new category of 'Icons,' a collection of 'extraordinary experiences hosted by the greatest names in music, film, television, art, sports, and more.'
Five human skeletons, missing hands and feet, found outside house of Nazi leader Hermann Goring
Archeologists have unearthed the skeletons of five people, missing their hands and feet, at a former Nazi military base in Poland.