Which of the following unfair trade practices involves making malicious statements about another person’s financial condition?

The practice that involves making malicious statements about another person’s financial condition is defamation. Defamation pertains to the act of communicating false statements that harm the reputation of an individual or entity. In the context of insurance and business practices, statements that inaccurately depict someone's financial stability can severely damage their credibility and professional opportunities.

Defamation can take two forms: slander (spoken) and libel (written). Making harmful, untrue claims about someone's financial health is deemed particularly damaging in industries where trust and reputation are critical, such as insurance. Such actions not only reflect unethical behavior but can also lead to legal action against the individual making the malicious statements.

Fraud, while similarly unethical, refers more specifically to deceptive practices intended to secure an unfair or unlawful gain, often involving manipulation or deceit rather than just damaging someone's reputation. Coercion involves forcing someone to act in a certain way through threats or intimidation, which is a different context altogether. Misrepresentation refers to inaccurate descriptions or statements related to facts in a financial or insurance transaction but does not specifically imply harm to someone's reputation as defamation does.