MFDA Hearing Panel approves settlement agreement with Dino DeRosa and issues Decision and Reasons

TORONTO, Nov. 14, 2018 /CNW/ - A settlement hearing in the matter of Dino DeRosa ("Respondent") was held on October 4, 2018 in Toronto, Ontario before a Hearing Panel of the Central Regional Council of the Mutual Fund Dealers Association of Canada ("MFDA"). The Hearing Panel has approved the Settlement Agreement dated October 2, 2018 ("Settlement Agreement") between Staff of the MFDA and the Respondent, and has issued its Decision and Reasons dated November 13, 2018 ("Decision and Reasons").

In its Decision and Reasons, the Hearing Panel announced the following sanctions on the Respondent:

• a permanent prohibition from conducting securities related business in any capacity as an Approved Person of, or in association with, any Member of the MFDA;
• a fine in the amount of $10,000; and
• costs in the amount of $5,000.

In the Settlement Agreement, the Respondent admitted that:

a)		between 2006 and April 2013, in his capacity as Chief Compliance Officer of W. H. Stuart Mutuals Ltd., he failed to identify regulatory concerns and take adequate supervisory action including completing reasonable supervisory investigations in response to red flags that indicated, or could have revealed, that W. H. Stuart's principals and Approved Persons were soliciting off-book investments in promissory notes issued by W. H. Stuart, its principals and related entities, contrary to MFDA Rules 1.1.1, 2.5.3 and 2.1.1;
b)		between February 2011 and April 2013, in his capacity as Chief Compliance Officer of W. H. Stuart Mutuals Ltd., he received complaints concerning the accounts of clients SI, DR and MD but failed to ensure that:
	i	the complaints were reported to the MFDA on the Member Event Tracking System;
	ii	reasonable supervisory investigations into the subject matter of the complaints were conducted;
	iii	the complaints were dealt with promptly and fairly; and
	iv	records were maintained of the investigation and proposed resolution of the complaints;
		contrary to MFDA Rules 1.2.2 (now 1.4), 2.1.1, 2.11, 2.1.4, 2.5.3 and MFDA Policy Nos. 3 and 6.
c)		between December 2011 and April 2013, he signed the certificate of partners or directors on behalf of W. H. Stuart Mutuals Ltd. that accompanied the submission of the Member's monthly and annual financial reports to the MFDA when he knew or ought to have known that the financial reports contained inaccurate financial information, contrary to MFDA Rules 3.5.1 and 1.1.2 and MFDA Rule 2.1.1.

Copies of the Decision and Reasons and the Settlement Agreement are available on the MFDA website at www.mfda.ca. During the period described in the Decision and Reasons, the Respondent conducted business in the Markham, 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 82,000 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, Managing Director, Litigation, 416-943-4619, [email protected]

Related Links

http://www.mfda.ca