Ontario's Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA) has secured fines and compliance orders against two individuals who failed to cooperate with an investigation under the province's Insurance Act.
The Divisional Court ordered Kostyantyn Poshtarenko and Anatolii Stoliar to attend interviews with FSRA and provide requested information. Both men were fined $5,000, with an additional $1,000 penalty for each day of non-compliance, up to a maximum of $25,000.
FSRA had originally issued summonses to the pair as part of an investigation into allegations that Poshtarenko was engaging in unlicensed insurance activity. When they did not comply, the regulator sought court enforcement.
“In order to protect consumers and maintain confidence in financial services, people must comply with FSRA investigations, and as we saw in this case, the courts support our enforcement efforts,” said Elissa Sinha, FSRA’s Director of Litigation and Enforcement. She added that failing to respond to a summons “will not be tolerated and can have serious consequences.”
The case highlights FSRA’s willingness to pursue court action to enforce compliance with its investigative powers. Earlier this year, the regulator imposed a $100,000 administrative penalty against Poshtarenko for acting as an insurance agent without a licence, a penalty that went uncontested before the Financial Services Tribunal.
This latest move comes amid a series of enforcement actions that underscore FSRA’s broader effort to strengthen oversight of Ontario’s insurance sector.
In recent months, the regulator has pursued significant penalties against other market participants, including more than $280,000 in fines against financial advisor Daniel George Gordon and his firm Gordon Wealth Management for coercive practices, misleading information, and failure to maintain errors and omissions coverage.
FSRA has also moved to refuse licence renewals and impose $110,000 in combined penalties on Gordon Kimberley Hinkson and Ocean West Financial Group for unlicensed activity and false statements, while another case saw a $10,000 penalty and licence restrictions imposed on Ishaan Ahuja after findings that he misrepresented information on licence applications.
Taken together, these cases signal FSRA’s increasing readiness to escalate enforcement through both administrative penalties and court-backed measures. For insurers, brokers, and intermediaries, the message is clear: failure to comply with licensing rules, regulatory obligations, or investigative summonses carries significant financial and reputational consequences.
