A hearing panel of the Investment Dealers Association of Canada has fined a Toronto man $100,000 for contravening IDA by-laws and securities laws in British Columbia, Alberta and Ontario.
Barry (Sai-Kwong) Leung was an approved person employed by the Toronto office of Octagon Securities Corp., a Member of the IDA.
Leung’s contraventions of the IDA’s by-laws and regulations and the Securities Acts of B.C., Alberta and Ontario arose out of his involvement in an RRSP stripping scheme that was perpetrated by a stock promoter and a financial consultant who were not registered with the IDA.
On Nov. 4, 2005 the IDA panel accepted a settlement agreement in which Leung admitted that:
between July 2002 and July 2003, he failed to use due diligence relative to a group of clients who opened accounts for the purpose of purchasing convertible debentures by way of a private placement, and thereby failed to learn the essential facts relative to the clients, and to ensure that the acceptance of purchase orders taken from these clients were within the bounds of good business practice; and- between July 2002 and June 2003, he failed to ensure that investments in a private placement made on behalf of a group of clients complied with provisions of the Ontario, British Columbia and Alberta Securities Acts.
In addition to the fine, Leung is prohibited from registration approval with any IDA member firm for a period of five years and must also pay $20,000 in costs.
Leung is not currently employed as an IDA registrant.
For a complete summary of facts, please see IDA Bulletin 3477.