MFDA announces settlement hearing to take place in respect of Avtar Badasha
TORONTO, March 27, 2015 /CNW/ - The Mutual Fund Dealers Association of Canada ("MFDA") commenced a disciplinary proceeding in respect of Avtar Singh Badasha (the "Respondent") by Notice of Hearing (the "Notice of Hearing") dated November 21, 2014.
As the result of a settlement agreement entered into between Staff of the MFDA and the Respondent, the settlement hearing in this proceeding will take place on April 17, 2015 commencing at 10:00 a.m. (Pacific), or as soon thereafter as the hearing can be held, in the hearing room at Charest Reporting Inc., located at 1650 – 885 West Georgia Street, Vancouver, British Columbia.
The subject matter of the proposed settlement agreement concerns matters for which the Respondent may be disciplined pursuant to ss. 20 and 24.1.1 of By-law No. 1 of the MFDA. In particular, the settlement agreement concerns allegations that between July 1, 2012 and September 30, 2012, the Respondent allowed AP, an unregistered individual, to open new accounts at the Member for 16 individuals with whom the Respondent never met, thereby:
| a) |
failing to ensure that he performed the necessary due diligence to learn the essential facts relative to each client for whom an account was opened, contrary to MFDA Rules 2.2.1(a) and 2.1.1; and |
| b) |
failing in his capacity as a branch manager to ensure that business conducted at the branch was in compliance with MFDA By-laws, Rules and applicable legislation, and to supervise the opening of new accounts at the Member's branch office, contrary to MFDA Rules 2.5.5(f)(i) and (ii). |
Additionally, between September 2011 and December 2013, the Respondent engaged in conduct unbecoming an Approved Person by:
| a) |
obtaining, maintaining and using approximately seven blank signed forms in the accounts of four clients; |
| b) |
securing client signatures on account documentation for eight client accounts by sending only the signature pages to six clients; and |
| c) |
changing the dates on two client account forms that were faxed by one client. |
| contrary to MFDA Rule 2.1.1. |
|
The hearing will be open to the public, unless and to the extent that the Hearing Panel determines that all or part of the hearing should proceed in the absence of the public. If the Hearing Panel accepts the settlement agreement, then a copy of the decision of the Hearing Panel and the settlement agreement will be made available to the public.
A copy of the Notice of Hearing is available on the MFDA website at www.mfda.ca. During the period described in the Notice of Hearing, the Respondent carried on business in Surrey, British Columbia.
The MFDA is the self-regulatory organization for Canadian mutual fund dealers, regulating the operations, standards of practice and business conduct of its 105 Members and their approximately 80,000 Approved Persons with a mandate to protect investors and the public interest. For more information about the MFDA's complaint and enforcement processes, as well as links to 'Check an Advisor' and other Investor Tools, visit the For Investors page on the MFDA website.
SOURCE Mutual Fund Dealers Association of Canada
Shaun Devlin, Senior Vice-President, Member Regulation, Enforcement, 416-943-4672, [email protected]; Jeff Mount, Vice-President, Pacific Region, 604-694-8846, [email protected]
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