MAS slaps three-year prohibition orders against former UBS banker

Paris Michele was discovered to have falsified company emails and forged documents.

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has issued 3-year prohibition orders (POs) against former UBS Singapore banker, Paris Michele, for dishonest conduct after he was found to have forged documents and falsified company emails during his employment with UBS.

As part of his responsibilities at UBS, Michele was tasked to conduct due diligence on UBS customers. In 2013, he forged letters from foreign law firms to deceive UBS into believing that certain UBS clients were tax compliant in their home countries. Mr Michele did not profit from the misconduct, and UBS did not suffer monetary losses as a result of his forgery. For this misconduct, Michele was convicted of forgery charges under section 465 of the Penal Code (Cap. 224) and fined $13,200 on June 2017. 

MAS’ investigation also found that Michele had falsified emails on background checks he did on individuals dealing with UBS on behalf of other financial intermediaries. 

Under the POs, Michele is prohibited from performing any regulated activity under the Securities and Futures Act (SFA) and providing any financial advisory service under the Financial Advisers Act (FAA). He is also prohibited from taking part in the management, acting as a director, or becoming a substantial shareholder of any capital market and financial advisory services firm under the SFA and FAA1

“Mr Michele's deceitful behaviour, which involved forging of customer due diligence documents, could have seriously compromised UBS' processes to combat money laundering and terrorism financing. His subsequent acts of falsifying other documents demonstrate a clear pattern of dishonesty. Such misconduct must be dealt with firmly to preserve the integrity of our markets,"Loo Siew Yee, Assistant Managing Director (Policy, Payments & Financial Crime) at MAS said in a statement.