A former rep’s appeal of disciplinary rulings against him by the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC) has been dismissed.

The Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) denied the appeal from Andrew Paul Rudensky, a former rep with Richardson GMP, who was sanctioned by IIROC in 2018 after it found that he violated the SRO’s rules by engaging in personal financial dealings with a client and misleading the firm.

IIROC ordered that Rudensky be suspended for two years, in addition to imposing monetary sanctions.

Rudensky sought to appeal the decision, arguing that the panel erred in several respects in finding that he violated its rules, and that the penalties imposed on him were excessive.

The OSC panel found that the IIROC panel did make an error in its decision against Rudensky. However, after carrying out its own analysis, the OSC panel ultimately reached the same conclusion as the IIROC panel.

“The error of law I identified relates to the IIROC panel’s interpretation of whether [a rule] remained in effect for the proceeding in the first instance against Mr. Rudensky,” Cecilia Williams, commissioner and chair of the panel, wrote in the OSC’s reasons and decision.

“I find that the evidence related to that issue and the IIROC panel’s analysis supporting it are entirely separable from the evidence and analysis underlying the IIROC panel’s findings that Mr. Rudensky breached [IIROC’s rules],” she added.

After considering his other arguments, the OSC panel ruled that it didn’t find any grounds for interfering with the IIROC panel’s rulings, and dismissed Rudensky’s application.