As the Ontario Securities Commission contemplates enforcement action in its own mutual fund investigation, one of the firms charged in the U.S, has laid out its restitution plan.

The Securities and Exchange Commission said that an independent distribution consultant has filed its proposed plan for the distribution of the US$50 million that Massachusetts Financial Services Co. (MFS) paid in disgorgements and penalties to settle SEC allegations. MFS is a subsidiary of Sun Life Financial Corp.

The SEC says that the distribution plan “generally provides for distribution fairly and proportionately to the MFS Funds the total disgorgement and penalty of $50,000,001 ordered by the commission.”

The funds affected are the registered investment companies for which MFS is the investment advisor, including retail mutual funds, registered closed-end funds, MFS Variable Insurance Trust, MFS Institutional Trust, and variable annuity and variable insurance funds known as MFS/Sun Life Series Trust and Compass Accounts.

The proposed plan provides that each MFS Fund shall receive a proportionate share of the disgorgement and penalty based upon the amount of brokerage commissions coded for fund sales attributed to each of the MFS Funds. Comments on the plan are invited by Oct. 22.

In Canada, the OSC received the power to order disgorgement back in 2002. It could also order that disgorged money be paid out to the affected investors, however it has yet to exercise this power.