This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily on March 5, 2019

KUALA LUMPUR: The Federation of Investment Managers Malaysia (FIMM) has publicly reprimanded Raymond Tan Tian Jwu, a former unit trust consultant (UTC) with Public Bank Bhd (PBB), for breaching its code of ethics concerning the selling of unit trust funds not distributed by his employer.

“Tan was found to be in breach of Clause 3.3.1 of FIMM’s code for dealing with the marketing and distribution of unit trust funds not distributed by PBB while he was registered as a UTC under their employment at the material time,” FIMM said in a statement yesterday.

The code requires a UTC to only deal in unit trust funds of his principal or those distributed by his principal and which have been approved by the Securities Commission Malaysia, it said.

“The UTC should not make any arrangements, in whatever manner, to market and distribute unit trust funds of other ordinary members or those distributed by other Institutional Unit Trust Advisers or Corporate Unit Trust Advisers,” FIMM added.

The public reprimand is intended to send a strong message to other UTCs, deterring them from committing such similar misconduct and also to safeguard the investing public and the industry, it said.

Since Tan is currently not a UTC registered with the FIMM, the federation has barred him from future registration as a UTC effective Jan 29, 2019, it said.