Ontario-based mutual fund dealer FundEX Investments Inc. has settled allegations that it violated several self-regulatory rules due to a variety of supervisory lapses.
A hearing panel of the Mutual Fund Dealers Association of Canada (MFDA) approved a settlement with Vaughan, Ont.-based FundEX that will see the firm pay a $250,000 fine and $50,000 in costs to resolve allegations of numerous oversight failings.
In the settlement, the firm admitted to failing to properly supervise a rep who made an unsuitable recommendation to a client; to ensure that several client complaints were handled correctly; to properly oversee the concentration of precious metal sector funds for four reps; and to review all of its branches every three years.
The firm also admitted that “it did not have adequate procedures in place to monitor all of the holdings in its client accounts held at Canadian Western Trust, and did not identify the sale of unapproved products in the accounts of two clients.”
According to the settlement, the firm has since taken action to correct the various supervisory issues covered in the case.