A hearing panel of the Investment Dealers Association of Canada has dismissed a motion application brought forth by Charles Kamal Dass, formerly an approved person with the Port Alberni office of Dundee Securities Corp.

On July 19, 2006, the panel dismissed the motion for an order that the IDA does not have jurisdiction to proceed with the allegations against Dass on the basis that he is no longer an approved person.

The position of the IDA was that it continued to have jurisdiction over Dass because its by-laws give the regulator jurisdiction over a former registrant for five years from the date on which the registrant ceased to be an approved person.

In presenting his request for a motion to the panel, Mr. Dass relied on the concept of recognition as a link to the statutory jurisdiction of the British Columbia Securities Act. Since Section 26 of the Act refers to members rather than former Members, the IDA would no longer have jurisdiction over Dass.

The IDA panel dismissed the motion application on the grounds that the IDA is an unincorporated entity which derives its existence from a contractual relationship with its members and approved persons. Therefore, it does not depend upon a statute for its existence and it does not have legal status to attorn to any statutory jurisdiction.

The panel also found that the effect of recognition as a self-regulatory organization by the British Columbia Securities Commission was not an act of attornment by the IDA. Further, Section 26 of the Act mandates that self-regulatory bodies like the IDA regulate the members and approved persons in accordance with the by-laws, rules and other regulatory instruments of the self-regulatory body. Section 26 does not attempt to define or restrict what these by-laws or regulatory instruments should be.

The IDA’s request to re-open this matter in order to present the panel with an argument that had just been heard by a hearing panel of the Ontario District Council was also dismissed.

In making its decision, the panel found that the public interest is better served by considering the element of fairness to Dass rather than the possibility of conflicting decisions facing the IDA.

Dass resigned from the industry on July 21, 2004.

For a complete summary of facts, please see IDA Bulletin 3569.