A hearing panel of the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC) has sanctioned a former advisors for rule violations that led to client losses.

Following a hearing in Winnipeg, the IIROC panel ordered that Edward Peter Bodnarchuk pay a $100,000 fine and $20,000 in costs, be suspended from registration for 18 months, successfully complete the CPH examination and be subject to strict supervision for 12 months upon any registration.

In an earlier decision dated June 22, 2018, the hearing panel found that Bodnarchuk failed to know two clients, made unsuitable recommendations, engaged in discretionary trading, and failed to notify his employer of a conflict of interest (namely that he solicited clients’ votes in a proxy battle at a company where he was also a shareholder).

IIROC formally initiated the investigation into Bodnarchuk’s conduct in October 2013. The violations occurred while he was a registered rep with the Winnipeg branch of National Bank Financial Ltd., and the Winnipeg branch of PI Financial Corp.

In its penalty decision and reasons on liability, the panel states that one client lost approximately $30,000 and another lost $212,000 as a result of Bodnarchuk’s misconduct.

It adds that Bodnarchuk had no prior record and IIROC had no knowledge that the he had received any profit from his misdeeds.

Bodnarchuck spoke at briefly at the hearing. “He has left the industry, is likely unemployable and living in reduced circumstances. He acknowledged he had breached his duty to his clients, acceding to their demands for high-risk stock,” the panel states.