MFDA Hearing Panel accepts settlement agreement with Steven Sopel
TORONTO, Oct. 1, 2021 /CNW/ - A settlement hearing in the matter of Steven Franklin Sopel (the "Respondent") was held on September 30, 2021 by electronic hearing in Winnipeg, Manitoba before a three-member Hearing Panel of the Prairie Regional Council of the Mutual Fund Dealers Association of Canada ("MFDA").
The Hearing Panel accepted the settlement agreement dated July 28, 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 acting as a branch manager or in any supervisory capacity for a Member of the MFDA for a period of three months;
- shall successfully complete the branch manager's course offered by either the Canadian Securities Institute or the Investment Funds Institute of Canada prior to acting as a branch manager in the future;
- a fine in the amount of $16,000;
- costs in the amount of $2,500; and
- shall in the future comply with MFDA Rule 2.1.1.
In the Settlement Agreement, the Respondent admitted that:
a) between October 6, 2015 and June 22, 2018, he obtained, possessed, and in some instances used to process transactions, 10 pre-signed account forms in respect of 7 clients, contrary to MFDA Rule 2.1.1; and
b) between February 1, 2015 and February 7, 2019, he altered and used to process transactions, 30 account forms in respect of 26 clients, by altering information on the account forms without having the client initial the alterations, contrary to 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 Crystal City, Manitoba 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]; Mark Stott, Vice-President, Prairie Region, 403-215-8329, [email protected]
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