Order

WHEREAS on May 18, 2021, the Mutual Fund Dealers Association of Canada (the “MFDA”) issued a Notice of Hearing pursuant to sections 20 and 24 of By-law No. in respect of a disciplinary proceeding commenced against Fangzhou Du (the “Respondent”);

AND WHEREAS on July 21, 2021, the first appearance in this proceeding was held by videoconference before one public representative of a Regional Council (the “Chair”) acting on behalf of a hearing panel of the Prairie Regional Council of the MFDA (the “Hearing Panel”), pursuant to s. 19.13 of MFDA By-Law No. 1;

AND WHEREAS MFDA Staff and the Respondent attended the first appearance on July 21, 2021 and made submissions to the Chair with respect to scheduling and other procedural matters and a second appearance was scheduled to take place on October 27, 2021;

AND WHEREAS on October 27, 2021, MFDA Staff attended the appearance by videoconference before the Chair, pursuant to s. 19.13 of MFDA By-Law No. 1, but no one appeared on behalf of the Respondent;

AND WHEREAS on October 27, 2021, the Hearing Panel ordered that the hearing of this matter on its merits (the “Hearing”) would take place electronically by videoconference on March 29, 2022, commencing at 9:30 a.m. (Mountain), or as soon thereafter as the matter can be heard;

AND WHEREAS the Hearing proceeded as scheduled before the Hearing Panel on March 29, 2022, at which time MFDA Staff attended to present evidence and submissions but no one appeared on behalf of the Respondent;

AND WHEREAS at the Hearing, the Hearing Panel considered the evidence and submissions presented by MFDA Staff with respect to the alleged misconduct, including but not limited to the Affidavit of Caron Handsaeme sworn March 25, 2022 and the exhibits attached thereto and the testimony of Caron Handsaeme who appeared at the Hearing by videoconference;

AND WHEREAS on the basis of the evidence and submissions presented during the Hearing, the Hearing Panel is of the opinion that between November 2018 and May 23, 2019, the Respondent engaged in personal financial dealings with a client that gave rise to a conflict or potential conflict of interest that the Respondent failed to disclose to the Member or otherwise address by the exercise of reasonable business judgment influenced only by the best interests of the client, contrary to the Member’s policies and procedures and MFDA Rules 2.1.4[1], 2.5.1, 1.1.2 and 2.1.1;

AND WHEREAS after making findings with respect to the misconduct of the Respondent, the Hearing Panel considered evidence and submissions presented by MFDA Staff with respect to the appropriate penalty to impose as a consequence of the misconduct;

IT IS HEREBY ORDERED THAT:

1. The Respondent shall be prohibited from conducting securities related business in any capacity while in the employ of or associated with any MFDA Member for a period of 6 months commencing on March 29, 2022, pursuant to section 24.1.1(e) of the MFDA By-law No. 1.
2. The Respondent shall pay a fine to the MFDA in the amount of $15,000 that is payable on the date of this Order, pursuant to s. 24.1.1(b) of MFDA By-law No. 1.
3. The Respondent shall pay costs to the MFDA in the amount of $7,500 that is payable on the date of this Order, pursuant to s. 24.2 of MFDA By-law No. 1.
4. If at any time a non-party to this proceeding, with the exception of the bodies set out in section 23 of MFDA By-law No. 1, requests production of or access to exhibits in this proceeding that contain personal information as defined by the MFDA Privacy Policy, then the MFDA Corporate Secretary shall not provide copies of or access to the requested exhibits to the non-party without first redacting from them any and all personal information, pursuant to Rules 1.8(2) and (5) of the MFDA Rules of Procedure.

[1] On June 30, 2021, amendments to MFDA Rule 2.1.4 came into effect. As the conduct addressed in this proceeding pre-dated the amendment to the Rule, the contravention of MFDA Rule 2.1.4 that is addressed in this proceeding is of the version of MFDA Rule 2.1.4 that was in effect between February 27, 2006 and June 30, 2021.