The Mutual Fund Dealers Association of Canada (MFDA) has banned a former advisor for 10 years after he admitted to selling a portion of his business to a client, and then deceiving his dealer firms about the arrangement.

The MFDA on Monday announced that Grant Monty Manning has been banned for 10 years, fined $50,000, and ordered to pay $5,000 in costs. Manning, who is no longer registered, did not oppose the proposed penalty.

According to an agreed statement of facts between MFDA staff and Manning, he admitted to: violating MFDA rules by engaging in personal financial dealings with a client; misleading his dealers by denying the existence of those arrangements; and failing to co-operate with the self-regulatory organization’s investigation in the case.

Manning was registered with IPC Investment Corp. from 1997 to April 2010, and with Worldsource Financial Management Inc. between April 2010 to November 2012. Starting in 1999, he sold an interest in his business, Manning Insurance and Investments Co. Ltd. (MIIC), to a client. The unnamed client held $390,000 in shares and promissory notes of MIIC, and she loaned the company $36,000.

Those arrangements created conflicts of interest between the Manning and the client, the agreement notes, which violated MFDA rules. In addition, Manning admitted that he misled his dealers, “… by falsely stating that he had not engaged in personal financial dealings with a client …” He also admitted that he failed to co-operate with the MFDA’s investigation.

The penalties follow a hearing that was held Dec. 18 in Toronto.