The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has issued a five-year prohibition order against former DBS Bank Ltd representative, Muhammad Hafiz Bin Ismail.

The prohibition order follows Mr. Hafiz's conviction by the State Courts for intentionally obstructing the course of justice and for contravening the Financial Advisers Act (FAA) and the Securities and Futures Act (SFA).

Effective from May 20, 2024, the order prohibits Mr. Hafiz from providing any financial advisory services and from managing, acting as a director, or becoming a substantial shareholder of any financial advisory firm registered under the FAA. He is also barred from performing any regulated activities and from managing, acting as a director, or becoming a substantial shareholder of any capital markets services firm registered under the SFA.

In January 2018, the police informed Mr. Hafiz that his uncle had been arrested in connection with theft-related offenses. Subsequently, Mr. Hafiz instructed his colleague to remove his uncle's safe deposit box from Mr. Hafiz’s premises to prevent the police from discovering it. Due to these actions, Mr. Hafiz was convicted on May 25, 2022, of abetment by intentionally obstructing the course of justice under Sections 204A, 108B, and 109 of the Penal Code and was sentenced to one week’s imprisonment.

Furthermore, on September 8, 2020, during the police investigation of the aforementioned crime, Mr. Hafiz applied to be a wealth planning manager at DBS Bank. However, he failed to disclose that he was under investigation in the integrity declaration he submitted to DBS Bank. DBS Bank relied on his responses in the declaration to certify to MAS that he was fit and proper to be appointed as a bank representative. By deliberately omitting these significant details, Mr. Hafiz contravened Section 23L(2)(b) of the FAA and Section 99O(2)(b) of the SFA.

Mr. Hafiz's conviction and misconduct led MAS to conclude that he would not perform financial advisory and capital markets services with integrity. Despite Mr. Hafiz no longer being an appointed representative in Singapore, MAS issued the prohibition order to uphold the integrity and trust in Singapore's financial industry.