Courts in British Columbia and Ontario have approved a national class action settlement involving TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. and millions of dollars in foreign exchange conversions.

TD said in a statement Tuesday both the B.C. Supreme Court and the Ontario Superior Court of Justice have approved the settlement. The settlement was worked out in B.C. last week and had to be approved in Ontario to be valid.

The class actions alleged that TD Waterhouse did not properly disclose to 183,000 clients that it was earning revenue from the conversion of currency for securities trades.

“A TD Waterhouse discount brokerage account provides the opportunity to trade securities the world over. TD Waterhouse offers various currency conversion options and competitive currency exchange rates. TD Waterhouse believes that its currency conversion practices are transparent and known to its clients,” said Kelly Hechler, a TD Waterhouse spokesperson.

“However, TD Waterhouse has agreed as part of the settlement to make available a credit towards the cost of future securities transactions for those clients who did not believe that TD Waterhouse profited from foreign exchange conversion rates.”

The settlement is currently being implemented and will be completed by Oct. 31, 2003, TD said.

According to reports, if all trading credits and vouchers were exercised by current and former clients identified in the action, the total dollar value would be about $13 million.

Lawyers for the class were Branch MacMaster of Vancouver, B.C., Groia & Company of Toronto, and Strosberg & Co. of Windsor.

Further details of the settlement can be obtained at: www.tdwaterhouse.ca/settlement.