Order

WHEREAS on December 14, 2022, the Mutual Fund Dealers Association of Canada (the “MFDA”) issued a Notice of Settlement Hearing pursuant to section 24.4 of MFDA
By-law No. 1 (now Mutual Fund Dealer Rule 7.4.4) in respect of a disciplinary proceeding commenced against Robert Jason Alexander Fulton (the “Respondent”);

AND WHEREAS the Respondent entered into a settlement agreement with Staff of the MFDA, dated December 14, 2022 (the “Settlement Agreement”), in which the Respondent agreed to a proposed settlement of matters for which the Respondent could be disciplined pursuant to sections 20 and 24.1 of MFDA By-law No. 1 (now Mutual Fund Dealer Rules 7.3 and 7.4.1);

AND WHEREAS on January 1, 2023, the MFDA and the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (“IIROC”) consolidated to form the New Self-Regulatory Organization of Canada (the “Corporation”);

AND WHEREAS the Corporation provided notice to the public on February 15, 2023 that the settlement hearing that was originally scheduled to take place on February 16, 2023 was rescheduled to proceed electronically by videoconference before a Hearing Panel of the Ontario District Hearing Committee (the “Hearing Panel”) on March 6, 2023 at 1 p.m. (Eastern); 

AND WHEREAS based upon the admissions of the Respondent in the Settlement Agreement, the Hearing Panel is of the opinion that:

1. between January 2020 and September 2020, the Respondent, or his assistant for whom he was responsible, photocopied signature pages from account forms that had previously been signed by clients and re-used the signature pages to complete 6 account forms in respect of 3 clients, and submitted the account forms to the Member for processing, contrary to MFDA Rule 2.1.1 (now Mutual Fund Dealer Rule 2.1.1); and
2. between February 2019 and April 2020, the Respondent, or his assistant for whom he was responsible, altered and used to process transactions, 3 account forms in respect of 4 clients by altering information on the account forms without having the client initial the alterations, contrary to MFDA Rule 2.1.1 (now Mutual Fund Dealer Rule 2.1.1).

IT IS HEREBY ORDERED THAT the Settlement Agreement is accepted, as a consequence of which:

1. The Respondent shall pay a fine in the amount of $19,000 in certified funds on the date of this order, pursuant to section 24.1.1(b) of MFDA By-law No.1 (now Mutual Fund Dealer Rule 7.4.1.1(b));
2. The Respondent shall pay costs in the amount of $5,000 in certified funds on the date of this order, pursuant to section 24.2 of MFDA By-law No.1 (now Mutual Fund Dealer Rule 7.4.2);
3. The Respondent shall in the future comply with Mutual Fund Dealer Rule 2.1.1; and
4. If at any time a non-party to this proceeding, with the exception of the bodies set out in Mutual Fund Dealer Rule 6.3, requests production of or access to exhibits in this proceeding that contain personal information as defined by the Corporation’s Privacy Policy, then the Corporation’s 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.