A Hearing Panel of the Investment Dealers Association of Canada has disciplined a Calgary broker because his assistant forged client signatures and provided investment advice to clients.

Vance Elder is a broker with Glenmore Landing and Esso Plaza branch offices of BMO Nesbitt Burns in Calgary.

Following a disciplinary hearing held in November and December, 2005 and April and June, 2006, the panel found that Elder knew or was “willfully blind” to the fact that his administrative assistant was signing client signatures as well as Elder’s signature on client account documentation.

The panel also found that Elder knew that his assistant was providing investment advice to his clients.

The panel found that the evidence did not support a fourth allegation that Elder engaged in the forgery of clients’ signatures to account documentation.

Elder’s administrative assistant, Catherina Blaker, testified that during the course of working as Elder’s administrative assistant, she had been directed by him to sign his signature and client signatures on client account documentation in circumstances where it was convenient and necessary to have the client account documentation completed.

Blaker also testified she was led to believe that it was an accepted practice in the industry to sign client signatures and Elder’s signature in the circumstances as stated. Further, Blaker testified that she would speak with Elder’s clients and provide investment advice, as directed from time-to-time by Elder.

The panel noted in its decision that the IDA’s case was principally based on the testimony of Blaker and that her credibility was thus “key to the determination of the Panel.”

The Hearing Panel concluded by saying: “In the end the panel found the evidence of Blaker to be overall more credible than the evidence of Elder. The inconsistencies in Blaker’s testimony were either not as relevant to the allegation… or could be more easily explained. The testimony of the other witnesses from Glenmore Landing overwhelming gave support to her testimony. Elder’s inconsistencies on the other hand went to the heart of the counts. In addition, the panel found that many of the interpretations of the evidence it was being asked to make by Elder were not consistent with a common sense reading of the evidence.”

The assessment of penalty is pending the panel’s receipt and review of Elder’s submissions on the sanction issue.

Elder continues to be employed with the Esso Plaza branch office of BMO Nesbitt Burns in Calgary.