MFDA Hearing Panel accepts settlement agreement with Sergio Salina

TORONTO, July 27, 2022 /CNW/ - A settlement hearing in the matter of Sergio Salina (the "Respondent") was held electronically by videoconference on July 25, 2022 in Vancouver, British Columbia before a three-member Hearing Panel of the Pacific Regional Council of the Mutual Fund Dealers Association of Canada ("MFDA").

The Hearing Panel accepted the settlement agreement dated July 12, 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 $30,000;
• costs in the amount of $5,000; and
• shall in the future comply with MFDA Rules 2.1.4, 2.1.1, 1.1.2, and 2.5.1.

In the Settlement Agreement, the Respondent admitted that:

a)	in July 2014, he recommended for the account of a 95 year old client a switch of approximately $498,511 from a no-load mutual fund to the same mutual fund which was subject to a seven year deferred sales charge schedule, generating a commission for the Respondent to which he would not otherwise have been entitled, thereby giving rise to a conflict or potential conflict of interest that the Respondent did not address by the exercise of responsible business judgment influenced only by the best interests of the client, contrary to the Member's policies and procedures and MFDA Rules 2.1.4,^1 2.1.1, 1.1.2, and 2.5.1;
b)	between March 2016 and November 2016, he failed to disclose to the Member that he had been named a beneficiary in a deceased client's will, thereby failing to disclose a conflict or potential conflict of interest to the Member, contrary to the Member's policies and procedures and MFDA Rules 2.1.4, 2.1.1, 1.1.2, and 2.5.1; and
c)	between 2010 and 2018, he obtained and possessed 24 pre-signed account forms in respect of 13 clients, contrary to the Member's policies and procedures and MFDA Rule 2.1.1.

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 Victoria, British Columbia 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.

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¹On June 30, 2021, MFDA Rule 2.1.4 was amended to conform with client focused reform amendments to National Instrument 31-103 that came into effect on the same day.  As the conduct addressed in this disciplinary proceeding pre-dated the amendment to this Rule, all contraventions addressed in this proceeding that make reference to that Rule concern the version of the Rule that was in effect between February 27, 2006 and June 30, 2021.

SOURCE Mutual Fund Dealers Association of Canada

Charles Toth, Vice-President, Enforcement, 416-943-4619, [email protected]; Jeff Mount, Vice-President, Pacific Region, 604-694-8846, [email protected]