Scholarship plan dealer pays $50,000 for poor compliance practices

VANCOUVER, May 18 /CNW/ - Under a settlement agreement with the British Columbia Securities Commission, a scholarship plan dealer has paid $50,000 for breaching securities laws by failing to maintain adequate compliance practices and failing to correct deficiencies from past compliance examinations.

BCSC staff conducted compliance examinations of Heritage Education Funds Inc. in 2000, 2003, and 2008. The 2008 examination showed a number of repeat deficiencies, including that Heritage failed to:

    
    -   keep written business procedures that were consistent with the firm's
        actual business practices
    -   maintain proper registration information in the National Registration
        Database
    -   subject its branches and sub-branches to regular periodic on-site
        examinations by its compliance staff
    

In addition, Heritage failed to provide certain of its records to BCSC examinations staff.

Of the $50,000 settlement, $25,000 represents the cost of the Commission's compliance examination.

Heritage will also engage an independent compliance monitor to provide annual reviews of the firm's compliance and supervision systems and practices for two years, starting in 2010.

The B.C. Securities Commission is the independent provincial agency responsible for regulating trading in securities in the province. You can view the settlement agreement on our website www.bcsc.bc.ca by typing Heritage or 2010 BCSSEC 257 into the search box. If you have questions, contact Brenda-Lea Brown, media relations 604-899-6554.

Learn how to avoid investment fraud at the BCSC's investor education website: www.investright.org.

For further information: Brenda Lea Brown, [phone] or (Canada) 1-800-373-6393