The Investment Dealers Association of Canada has fined a Montreal broker $280,000 for misappropriating a client’s funds from a Swiss bank.

The IDA said Thomas J. Hunt, a rep at the St-Laurent, Que. branch of Assante Capital Management Ltd., misappropriated $194,158.63 from a client account at a Swiss financial institution. He also violated IDA bylaws by giving trading instructions for a client account at a Swiss financial institution without the knowledge or consent of his employer and by arranging a private placement and an investment in a hedge fund for a client, both conducted off-book and without his employer’s knowledge or consent.

The IDA said Hunt is “permanently prohibited from approval in any capacity, is fined $280,000 and must disgorge $194,158.63 in ill-gotten gains. In addition, Mr. Hunt is required to pay $45,554 in association costs.”