MFDA issues Notice of Settlement Hearing in respect of PDQ Financial Services Inc. and Cesidio Negri

TORONTO, Oct. 31, 2013 /CNW/ - The MFDA today announced that it has issued a Notice of Settlement Hearing regarding the presentation, review and consideration of a proposed settlement agreement by a Hearing Panel of the MFDA's Central Regional Council.

The settlement agreement will be between Staff of the MFDA and PDQ Financial Services Inc. ("PDQ") and Cesidio Negri ("Negri") (collectively, the "Respondents") and involves matters for which the Respondents may be disciplined by a Hearing Panel pursuant to MFDA By-laws.

The proposed settlement agreement concerns allegations that:

(a)     Between August 2007 and August 2012, while PDQ was designated in early warning, PDQ and Negri frequently contravened the early warning requirements set out in MFDA Rule 3.4.2;

(b)     Between March 2011 and July 2012, Negri made withdrawals from PDQ to pay personal expenses in excess of the amounts approved by MFDA Staff, contrary to MFDA Rules 3.4.2(b)(iv)(C) and 3.4.2(c) and MFDA Rule 2.1.1; and

(c)     Between 2010 and 2012, while in the course of attempting to sell investments in PDQ, PDQ and Negri circulated a sales communication to prospective investors in PDQ that inaccurately stated or implied that the MFDA and other regulators had endorsed PDQ's business model or plan, products, suitability process or other feature of its operations, products or services, contrary to MFDA Rules 2.7.2 and 2.1.1.

The Settlement Hearing is scheduled to take place on November 7, 2013 at 10:00 a.m. (Eastern), or as soon thereafter as the hearing can be held, in the MFDA hearing room located at 121 King Street West, Suite 1000, Toronto, Ontario. The hearing will be open to the public, except as may be required for the protection of confidential matters.

A copy of the Notice of Settlement Hearing is available on the MFDA website at www.mfda.ca. During the periods described in the Notice of Settlement Hearing, the Respondents carried on business in the Greater Toronto Area.

The MFDA is the self-regulatory organization for Canadian mutual fund dealers, regulating the operations, standards of practice and business conduct of its 115 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

Hugh Corbett
Managing Director, Enforcement
416-943-4685
[email protected]