MFDA Hearing Panel accepts settlement agreement with Dennis Duclos

TORONTO, Dec. 6, 2022 /CNW/ - A settlement hearing in the matter of Dennis Jerome Duclos (the "Respondent") was held electronically by videoconference on December 5, 2022 in Toronto, Ontario before a three-member Hearing Panel of the Central Regional Council of the Mutual Fund Dealers Association of Canada ("MFDA").

The Hearing Panel accepted the settlement agreement dated November 18, 2022 (the "Settlement Agreement"), between Staff of the MFDA and the Respondent as a consequence of which the following sanctions were imposed on the Respondent:

• a fine in the amount of $25,000, payable in instalments as follows:
• $10,000 on December 5, 2022;
• $2,500 on or before January 31, 2023;
• $2,500 on or before February 28, 2023;
• $2,500 on or before March 31, 2023;
• $2,500 on or before April 28, 2023;
• $2,500 on or before May 31, 2023;
• $2,500 on or before June 30, 2023;
• costs in the amount of $2,500; and
• shall in the future comply with MFDA Rules 2.1.1, 5.1(b), 1.4(b), 1.1.2 (as it relates to MFDA Rule 2.5.1), and MFDA Policy 6.

In the Settlement Agreement, the Respondent admitted that:

1. on or about June 5, 2019, he processed a redemption in a client account based on instructions from someone other than the client who did not have trading authorization on the account, contrary to the Member's policies and procedures and MFDA Rules 2.1.1 and 1.1.2 (as it relates to MFDA Rule  2.5.1);
2. between approximately November 2019 and June 2020, he failed to report to the Member complaints received from a client, contrary to the Member's policies and procedures and MFDA Rules 2.1.1, 1.4(b), 1.1.2 (as it relates to MFDA Rule 2.5.1), and MFDA Policy 6;
3. between approximately September 2014 and October 2018, he altered and used to process transactions 4 account forms in respect of 2 clients by altering information on the account forms without having the client initial the alterations, contrary to MFDA Rule 2.1.1; and
4. between approximately October 2019 and September 2020, he failed to record and maintain evidence of client trade instructions with respect to 16 redemptions in 4 client accounts, contrary to the Member's policies and procedures and MFDA Rules 5.1(b) and 1.1.2 (as it relates to MFDA Rule 2.5.1).

A copy of the Settlement Agreement is available on the MFDA website at www.mfda.ca. During the period described in the Settlement Agreement, the Respondent conducted business in the Waterloo, Ontario area.

The MFDA is the self-regulatory organization for Canadian mutual fund dealers, regulating the operations, standards of practice and business conduct of its Members and their approximately 76,695 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

Charles Toth, Vice-President, Enforcement, 416-943-4619, [email protected]