伪造客户签字 理财顾问执照被吊销

OBSI: Monarch refuses its recommendation

某些理财顾问会采用五花八门的金融手法和伎俩，诸如假冒签名、伪造文件、误导客户在空白的客户情况表格上签字等手法获利但却令无辜的客户蒙受经济损失，而上当客户当中有很多是同族裔的新移民。

Employing a plethora of financial schemes and tactics, such as forging signatures, falsifying documentation, and misled signings of blank Know-Your-Client forms, a few dishonest financial advisors make excessive gains at the financial loss of their innocent clients, many of whom are newcomers from the same ethnic communities.

不过这些欺诈行为很难逃脱监管部门的制裁。一旦被定罪，那些欺诈投资客户者会遭到监管部门的严厉惩罚，而受害人在向OBSI（银行及投资业申述专员）进行投诉后可得到损失补偿。

But the fraudulent behavior is hardly able to evade from authorities. As Kevin Jia reports, once convicted, those who took advantage of investors face stern punishments from regulators and victims may be entitled to compensation after filing complaints with OBSI.
                                           

徐先生和许太太（化名）是2007年移民加拿大的。和许多移民一样，他们在加拿大没有亲戚朋友。不过这对夫妇经常去他们在当地的教堂。几次教堂礼拜后，认识了一位张先生。张先生在一家投资公司（A公司）做事。不久，张先生找到他们，向其推介一种很诱人的金融杠杆产品，即借钱投资。

In 2007, Mr. Xu and Mrs. Xu (not real names) immigrated to Canada. Like many immigrants, they had no family or friends in Canada. But the couple frequently attended their local church and after several services, they were approached by Mr. Zhang, a financial advisor who worked for an investment firm (Firm A). Soon after, Mr. Zhang showed them a lucrative leveraging strategy -- borrowing to invest.

这对夫妇对此没什么兴趣，就拒绝了。可是，张先生在没有得到他们的许可情况下，照样在2007年替他们申请了贷款。根据OBSI的调查，张先生以这对夫妇的账户名义贷款20万元，投资于某互惠基金。到2007年底，张先生换了一家公司，开始为“帝王财富公司”工作，而这对夫妇的账户也在未经许可的情况下转移到了新公司。

The couple was not interested in his offer and refused. However, Mr. Zhang applied for the loan in 2007 without the couple’s approval. According to the OBSI investigation, Mr. Zhang borrowed $200,000 on the couple’s account and invested it into mutual funds. By the end of 2007, Mr. Zhang switched firms and started to work for Monarch Wealth Corporation, but the couple’s account had also been transferred without their approval.

OBSI的行政总裁Doug Melville表示：“这对夫妇对账户转移毫不知情……即使转换公司的文件也要很多疑点……文件上的签名与驾照签名大相径庭，”

“The couple had no knowledge of the transfer… Even the paperwork for the firm switch had many irregularities…The driver’s license signatures weren’t even close,” said Doug Melville, CEO of Ombudsman for Banking Services and Investments (OBSI).

就在账户转移后不久，徐太太开始休产假。可是不论是张还是帝王财富公司都没有对这对夫妇的财政状况进行重新评估。也就是在那个时候，徐太太才开始注意到她的银行对账单出现有利息支出。她立刻联络了银行，被告知利息是从几项累计贷款而来。感到受骗后，她去找张，但张向她保证说那些贷款只是误解。不过，徐太太坚持说她要把钱都拿出来，而张却吓唬她说撤出贷款会导致额外费用及严重投资损失。

                 Shortly after Zhang’s transfer, Mrs. Xu went on maternity leave. Yet, neither Zhang nor Monarch had properly reassessed the couple’s financial situation. It was at that time Mrs. Xu began noticing interest payments in her bank statements. She immediately contacted the bank and was informed the interest was accumulated from loans. Sensing deception, she met with Zhang but was assured that the loan was a miscommunication. However, Mrs. Xu insisted she wanted to pull out, but Zhang intimidated her with incurred fees and heavy losses.

                可是，在2008年金融衰退期，张夫妇的投资损失惨重。而到了2009年，加拿大税务局对这对夫妇的税单进行审查，继而要求他们缴纳9000元税款。当他们日益焦虑之际，张又一次向他们提出保证。在税务局审查后不久，张想再次换公司，并请这对夫妇签署一系列公司转移的表格。直到此时这对夫妇才第一次知道张已经换到了帝王公司。

However, during the financial meltdown of 2008, the value of the losses mounted and by 2009, the CRA challenged the couple’s tax returns and subsequently required them to pay $9,000 in taxes. As they grew increasingly anxious, Zhang once more reassured them. Soon after the CRA demands, Zhang attempted to switch firms yet again and invited the couple to sign a set of transfer forms. This was the first time the couple had learned that Mr. Zhang had already transferred to Monarch.

经管这对夫妇的顾虑与日俱增，张却继续向他们施以各种伎俩，以使这对夫妇保持贷款投资。可当时投资的市值已经远远跌出了16万。随着利息的增加和税务局增加的税款要求，这对夫妇被搞得筋疲力尽、无以是从。走投无路之余，他们直接找到了帝王公司，最终，他们的头述被递到了OBSI和互惠基金经纪机构（MFDA）。

Despite the couple’s growing apprehension, Zhang continued his tactic to keep the couple hooked. However the market value of the investment had fallen well below $160,000. With interest payments mounting and further CRA demands, the couple was now exhausted and cornered. Out of options, they approached Monarch and eventually, their complaint reached OBSI and the Mutual Fund Dealers Association (MFDA).

贷款投资是一种高风险的投资行为，只适合于那些财力雄厚、经得起投资损失、而且经验丰富的投资者。投资风险还会因债务和利息额而成倍增长，因此这种投资策略可说是险象丛生。以这对夫妇的收入、投资知识、以及风险承受力，OBSI认为这种投资策略根本不适用这对夫妇。

Borrowing to invest is a very risky investment and may only be suitable for those who are sophisticated investors with strong financial assets to sustain losses. The investment strategy was perilous as the risk factors of the investment are amplified by debt and interest payments. Given the couple’s income, investment knowledge and risk tolerance, OBSI found that the investment strategy was unsuitable for the couple.

有鉴于此，认为投资公司应对其经纪的不恰当投资建议负责的OBSI同时向A公司和帝王公司提出建议，向这对夫妇所蒙受的总投资损失的$6.2万元提供补偿，由每家公司支付总损失的一半$3.1万元。A公司与这对夫妇达成了和解，但帝王公司却拒绝了OBSI的建议。因此，这对夫妇尚未能找回他们的全部投资损失。

As such, the OBSI, which believes that investment firms are responsible for the unsuitable advice provided by their agents, made recommendations that Firm A and Monarch compensate for the couples’ total financial loss of $62,000 by each making half of the total repayments. While Firm A has settled with the couple, Monarch refused the OBSI’s recommendation. In other words, the couple has not been able to recoup their entire losses to the investment.

理财顾问的佣金是以客户的投资总额为基准的。据FAIR Canada的资料，根据目前佣金机制，向客户强势推介可以令投资总额升值的金融杠杆投资有利于投资顾问获取高额佣金。因此，理财顾诱导客户进行“借贷投资”就可多拿佣金。

             Financial advisors make commissions based on the amount of clients’ investment assets. According to FAIR Canada, there is systemic incentive for investment advisors to push leveraged investment that can bring inflated asset value. As such, advisors could make excessive gains by luring clients into “borrowing to invest” strategy.

                张除了向这对夫妇提供不适当的投资建议之外，还违反了数项监管政策。根据MFDA的调查，张被发现迫使这对夫妇签署了空白的“了解你的客户”（Know-Your-Clinet，KYC）表格，并篡改了他们的财务状况，在未得到这对夫妇授权的情况下申请了投资贷款。更有甚者，MFDA还接到了另外几宗针对张的类似投诉。MFDA听证会决定，永久性吊销张的投资理财执照，并向其罚款7.5万元。

Apart from offering the unsuitable investment advice to the couple, Zhang also breached regulatory policies. According to the MFDA investigation, Zhang was found to have forced the couple into signing blank Know-Your-Client (KYC) forms and had altered financial information to apply for investment loans without the couples’ authorization. Furthermore, the MFDA received several other complaints regarding similar allegations against Mr. Zhang. After the MFDA hearings, Zhang’s license was permanently revoked and he was fined $75,000 in penalties.

我们希望对张的惩罚措施阻止其他欲以误导、欺骗、伪造等手段榨取受害者的行为。不过，尽管一系列保护公众利益的机制存在，欺骗案件中的受害者通过冗长繁琐的调查程序，仍可能无法找回他们的投资损失。这些经济损失，再加上随之而来的精神折磨，都足以提请投资者保护其个人利益。最好的保护措施是自我防范。Melville透露，这类案件中的受害者中相当一部分为华人社区人士，因此他建议所有的移民，特别是那些英语不流利的移民，对所有的投资策略和不良促销手段都保持相当的警惕和怀疑。

 Zhang’s penalty will hopefully serve as a strong deterrence to others who intend to exploit victims through misrepresentation, falsification, and forgery. However, despite the mechanism to protect public interests, the victims of fraud cases may not be able to recoup their lost investments after a long and tedious investigative process.  The financial losses, coupled with the emotional turmoil endured all stress the need that victims safeguard their own interest. The best protection is self protection. Melville, who revealed that a high proportion of victims in the similar cases involved Chinese community members, advises all immigrants, especially those who are not proficient in English, to be wary and skeptical of investment schemes and unscrupulous sales tactics.

                “如果一名理财顾问告诉你说可以无风险就可大赚一笔，他们肯定在撒谎。当你感到苗头不佳时，一定要向理财顾问所在的公司反映。在文件上签字之前，你不但要读文件，而且要理解文件条款，最终你是要受文件条款约束的。”

“If an advisor says you can make a lot of money without risk, their lying. When you suspect something is wrong, always approach the advisor’s firm. But before you sign anything, you need to not just read it, but understand it. Ultimately, you’re going to be bound to it.”

皇家财富公司拒绝就此案提供评论，《大中报》无法联络到张先生。

Monarch Wealth Corporation declined to comment. Chinese News is unable to reach Mr. Zhang.