MFDA Hearing Panel accepts settlement agreement with Joe Yalkezian
TORONTO, Nov. 17, 2021 /CNW/ - A settlement hearing in the matter of Joe Ohanes Yalkezian (the "Respondent") was held on November 16, 2021 by electronic hearing 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 October 13, 2021 ("Settlement Agreement"), between Staff of the MFDA and the Respondent, as a consequence of which the following sanctions were imposed on the Respondent:
- a prohibition from conducting securities related business in any capacity while in the employ of or associated with any MFDA Member for a period of five years;
- a fine in the amount of $25,000;
- costs in the amount of $5,000; and
- shall in the future comply with MFDA Rules 2.1.4, 2.2.1, 2.1.1, 2.5.1, 1.1.2 and 1.3.2.
In the Settlement Agreement, the Respondent admitted that:
a) |
between June 2011 and June 2019, he engaged in personal financial dealings with clients when he: |
|
i. |
paid monies to three clients so that they could pay the borrowing costs of their leveraged investments; |
|
ii. |
was indebted to a client at the time when he commenced servicing the client's account and thereafter borrowed additional monies from the client; and |
|
iii. |
loaned monies to nine clients; |
|
thereby giving rise to conflicts or potential conflicts of interest which he failed to disclose to the Member, or failed to address by the exercise of responsible business judgment influenced only by the best interests of the clients, contrary to the Member's policies and procedures, and MFDA Rules 2.1.4, 2.5.1, 1.1.2, and 2.1.1; |
||
b) |
in October 2013, he misled the Member with regard to the source of the monies that three clients used to pay the borrowing costs of their leveraged investments, contrary to MFDA Rules 2.2.1 and 2.1.1; and |
|
c) |
between in or about 2016 and March 2020, he engaged in an unapproved outside activity, contrary to the Member's policies and procedures and MFDA Rules 1.3.2 (formerly Rule 1.2.1(c)), 2.1.1, 2.5.1 and 1.1.2. |
|
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 carried on business in the Cobourg, 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 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
Charles Toth, Vice-President, Enforcement, 416-943-4619, [email protected]
Share this article