A BMO Nesbitt Burns Inc. VP and branch manager has been fined $50,000 for failing to properly supervise a broker who manipulated the share price of Helix BioPharma Corp. on behalf of five clients.

Matthew Linden, manager of Nesbitt’s Oakville, Ont., branch, agreed to pay the fine plus $12,500 in costs as part of a settlement reached with Market Regulation Services Inc.

RS found that Linden failed to ask enough questions about the trading done by John Scott, a former broker under his supervision. RS said in an earlier settlement with Scott that he manipulated Helix BioPharma’s shares over a six-month period beginning in February 2000. Scott was banned from working in the industry for two years and fined $178,756.