Nick Financial Issued $75,000 in Administrative Penalties for Unauthorized Deposit-Taking

Printed . This content is updated regularly, please refer back to https://bcfsa.ca to ensure that you are relying on the most up-to-date resources.

Close up of two people signing a legal decision

BC Financial Services Authority (BCFSA) has issued a total of $75,000 in administrative penalties against Fine Investment Inc., doing business as Nick Financial Investment (Nick Financial), for contraventions of the Financial Institutions Act (FIA). This includes a $50,000 penalty, the maximum allowable under the FIA, for unauthorized deposit-taking.

In October 2025, BCFSA launched an investigation and issued a consumer alert advising consumers not to deposit money with Nick Financial. The company and its sole director, Ali Nikfarjam, promised by way of a formal Undertaking to return all deposits it had received and to cease taking new deposits.

Following its investigation, BCFSA has determined that Nick Financial:

Carried on deposit business without authorization when it solicited and received deposits from consumers, promising returns after specified periods of time, without authorization to conduct deposit business in British Columbia, contrary to section 81(1) of the FIA; and
Failed to comply with an Undertaking provided to the Superintendent under section 208 of the FIA.

BCFSA has issued a $50,000 penalty for unauthorized deposit-taking and $25,000 for failing to comply with an undertaking. Nick Financial had 14 days to dispute the administrative penalty; it did not initiate and file any dispute or appeal within the required timeframe.

Unauthorized deposit‑taking exposes consumers to significant risk because it operates outside the protections and oversight designed to safeguard their savings,” said Nez Aquino, BCFSA’s Senior Vice President, Financial Institutions. “We take this conduct seriously and will investigate and act whenever businesses engage in unauthorized activities that undermine confidence in the financial services sector and put consumers at risk.”