KUALA LUMPUR (Sept 6): The Federation of Investment Managers Malaysia (FIMM) said it recently reprimanded two unit trust scheme (UTS) and private retirement scheme (PRS) consultants, and barred them for their misconducts/breaches of the FIMM’s Code of Ethics and Rules of Professional Conduct (Unit Trust Funds).

In a statement on Wednesday, the FIMM said the two consultants are Norolhisam Mohamad Nor and his spouse Salina Salan.

The FIMM said Norolhisam and Salina were found to be in breach of Clauses 3.1.3(a) and 3.1.3(c) of the FIMM’s code.

The federation said they performed and/or allowed performance of multiple redemption and/or subscription transactions, in a relatively short period of time in the investor’s individual UTS account, and were motivated to unethically generate commissions for themselves, which caused significant financial losses to the investor, and performed and/or allowed performance of multiple redemption, switching and/or subscription transactions, which caused significant financial losses to the investor.

Clauses 3.1.3(a) and 3.1.3(c) of the FIMM’s code require UTS consultants, who are registered with the FIMM, to always act with honesty, dignity and integrity, and deal in good faith and with the best intentions for investors.

Consequently, the FIMM said Norolhisam and Saline had been barred from future registration with the FIMM.

The FIMM said the public reprimand was imposed to send a strong message that the FIMM will take action against those who fail to comply with any rules issued by the federation.

“This is to deter UTS and PRS consultants from committing any misconducts, and reminding them that it is crucial to observe the FIMM’s rules when marketing and distributing UTS and PRS in Malaysia to protect the interests of the investing public.

“Their misconduct was detected via the FIMM’s surveillance efforts,” it said.