The Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario (FSRA) is imposing an administrative penalty in the amount of $10,000 on Ishaan Ahuja, and has imposed conditions on Ahuja’s license, after the Financial Services Tribunal decided that false statements made on an application for licensure is not enough to withhold a license from the applicant.

FSRA has filed an appeal of the tribunal’s decision to the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, scheduled to be heard in October 2025.

After it initially issued a proposal to refuse a license to Ahuja, the regulator was ordered to reverse the decision, despite the fact that it was acknowledged that Ahuja conducted unlicensed insurance activity when he placed more than 50 policies while his licensing application was under review. It was also acknowledged that the agent made material misstatements on two applications – one for his life agent’s license and the other for his general insurance agent’s license and on two renewal applications.

Unlicensed activity 

Regarding the unlicensed activity, the tribunal took into consideration the fact that Ahuja inquired with his firm (Co-operators Life and Co-operators General Insurance) about what activity was permitted while his renewal application was being considered. His manager, in turn, requested an opinion from the firm which said that as long as the renewal was pending with the regulator, Ahuja could transact business. Once informed by the regulator that an active license was required to transact any insurance business, he immediately ceased conducting insurance business.

As for the application misstatements indicating that he’d never had conditions placed on his license in the past, the tribunal states that the false answers, on their own, do not inevitably lead to the conclusion that Ahuja is not suitable to be licensed. 

"Even if the conduct of Mr. Ahuja at the TD Bank was a factor in determining whether he is suitable to be licensed as an insurance agent today, which I have determined it is not, the period of time that has passed make it less relevant,” the tribunal’s decision states. (The bank alleged in its 2019 termination that Ahuja used the bank’s resources inappropriately while on shift, that he used a bank phone to call India and that he inappropriately accessed client files with no business reason for doing so.)

“Even if the TD Bank assertions had been proven, this conduct resulted in Mr. Ahuja’s termination from the TD Bank on March 1, 2019. Over six years have passed and there have been no client complaints against Mr. Ahuja since he was dismissed. The conduct, if proven, could certainly be described as inappropriate, but in my view, given the passage of time and the nature of the alleged misconduct, it is not sufficient evidence to conclude that Mr. Ahuja is not suitable to be licensed.” 

In addition to the $10,000 administrative penalty the regulator did impose, Ahuja must also be supervised for a period of one year.