The Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) has settled with a scholarship plan dealer and manager over various compliance deficiencies uncovered by the regulator.
The OSC said Monday that it has approved a proposed settlement with scholarship plan dealer and investment manager, Heritage Education Funds Inc. (HEFI). Under the settlement, the firm agrees to be reprimanded, and to continue proving to the regulator that it is following its toughened compliance systems.
The case stems from a series of reviews by the OSC, which found “numerous compliance deficiencies”, and led to the imposition of terms and conditions on the firm’s registration. Under those conditions, it was required to hire an independent consultant to help it strengthen its compliance system, among other measures.
The settlement indicates that an independent monitor reports that the firm that HEFI has implemented the procedures and controls recommended by the consultant to address its compliance deficiencies, and that the firm “is complying with the new procedures and controls, which appear to be working effectively and are being enforced.”
In the settlement, HEFI acknowledges that it needed to improve its compliance system; that it set out to do that in the wake of the OSC’s reports; and that it has cooperated with the commission. It also notes that the firm has incurred over $4.9 million in costs to implement the terms and conditions imposed on its registration.
Given the firm’s efforts to address the OSC’s concerns, they agreed to settle allegations against the firm with a reprimand, and that it continues to demonstrate its improved compliance procedures. The firm is required to provide an other report by March 12, 2016 detailing whether the firm is still following its revised policies and procedures and internal controls.