The Financial Markets Authority (FMA) - Te Mana Tātai Hokohoko - has cancelled the Financial Advice Provider licence of Saanvi 2022 Limited (trading as Saaga Mortgages) (Saanvi) for failing to meet its licence obligations. The FMA began an investigation into Auckland based firm Saanvi following concerns raised by their aggregator1 Kiwi Advisor Network (KAN).
Saanvi had been providing financial advice on mortgages. Gajay Singh, Saanvi's sole director, was its only adviser.
KAN advised the FMA of their concerns that altered supporting documents were submitted by Saanvi to mortgage product providers. Our investigation found this happened in lending applications Saanvi submitted for six clients. Saanvi was unable to provide originating emails or source records.
Helena Lewis, Head of the FMA's Perimeter and Response team said, "The issues uncovered at Saanvi reflect serious failures of trust, governance, and professional standards.
"We also found that Saanvi's clients were not informed of a referral arrangement which included payments to a third party who was actively involved in Saanvi's advice process
"We were concerned to see that the third party appeared to be actively involved in Saanvi's advice process rather than acting purely as a source of referrals, and that Saanvi had misled KAN about the identity of this individual."
Saanvi also disclosed to the FMA that clients' personal information may have been accessible to its administrative assistant, an individual who had no formal employment or contractual relationship with Saanvi.
"Mortgage advice involves some of the most important financial decisions consumers will make, and poor conduct in this area can have long lasting consequences for households," said Ms Lewis.
"The cancellation of Saanvi's licence is critical to ensuring we protect consumers and the integrity of the market. It is important for financial advice providers to act ethically to maintain trust and uphold the integrity of the sector, which Saanvi has failed to do."
Saanvi cooperated with the FMA throughout its investigation, and Mr. Singh expressed remorse for the conduct identified.
1 An aggregator typically provides FAPs with compliance and technology support, as well as access to banks and insurers.
