TORONTO, Oct. 8, 2020 – A settlement hearing in the matter of Stefano Arena (“Respondent”) was held by electronic hearing today in Toronto, Ontario before a three-member Hearing Panel of the Central Regional Council of the Mutual Fund Dealers Association of Canada (“MFDA”).
The Hearing Panel accepted the settlement agreement dated August 28, 2020 (“Settlement Agreement”) between Staff of the MFDA and the Respondent, as a consequence of which the following sanctions were imposed on the Respondent:
-
shall be suspended from conducting securities related business in any capacity while in the employ of or associated with any MFDA Member for a period of 2 months;
-
a fine in the amount of $35,000;
-
costs in the amount of $5,000; and
-
shall in the future comply with MFDA Rules 2.1.1, 2.3.1, 1.1.2 and 2.5.1.
In the Settlement Agreement, the Respondent admitted that between June 2016 and May 2018, he processed switches on behalf of clients using his discretion to determine the timing and amount of the switches, contrary to the Member’s policies and procedures and MFDA Rules 2.3.1(b), 2.1.1, 1.1.2 and 2.5.1.
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 Toronto, 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 81,000 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
View original content: http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/October2020/08/c1706.html