MFDA Hearing Panel accepts Settlement Agreement with Excel Financial Growth
Inc.

TORONTO, Aug. 23 /CNW/ - A Settlement Hearing in the matter of Excel Financial Growth Inc. (the "Respondent") was held on August 20, 2010 in Toronto, Ontario before a Hearing Panel of the MFDA's Central Regional Council.

The Hearing Panel accepted the Settlement Agreement between the Respondent and MFDA Staff, as a consequence of which the Respondent:

    
    -   Has paid a fine in the amount of $10,000;

    -   Shall, within three months, implement policies and procedures to
        fully resolve compliance deficiencies identified in a 2008 MFDA
        Compliance Examination Report; and

    -   Has paid costs in the amount of $2,500.
    

In the Settlement Agreement the Respondent admitted that, contrary to MFDA Rules, between August 2005 and May 2008 it failed to:

    
    -   establish, implement and maintain an adequate two-tier supervision
        structure to supervise the trading activity of Approved Persons at
        its branch office in Richmond, British Columbia and, in some
        instances, to review the trading activity and new client account
        openings of producing branch managers;

    -   maintain evidence of head office review of trades;

    -   maintain evidence of branch manager review and approval of new client
        accounts;

    -   establish, implement and maintain adequate policies and procedures to
        conduct reasonable due diligence on exempt securities and to
        supervise the sale of exempt securities to clients;

    -   establish, implement and maintain adequate policies and procedures at
        head office to detect excessive trading and market timing.
    

The Hearing Panel will issue written reasons for its decision in due course. Copies of the Settlement Agreement and the Hearing Panel's Order are available on the MFDA website at www.mfda.ca.

The MFDA is the self-regulatory organization for Canadian mutual fund dealers, regulating the operations, standards of practice and business conduct of its 139 Members and their approximately 73,000 Approved Persons with a mandate to protect investors and the public interest.

For further information: Shaun Devlin, Vice-President, Enforcement, 416-943-4672 or [email protected]