Speakers

MFDA RISK MANAGEMENT CONFERENCE
SPEAKERS

Mark Gordon

President and CEO
Mutual Fund Dealers Association of Canada

Mark joined the Mutual Fund Dealers Association of Canada in November 1998. Prior to being appointed President & CEO, he was the Executive Vice-President and played a key leadership role in developing and building the MFDA into a national SRO with offices in Toronto, Calgary and Vancouver. Mark joined the MFDA from the Ontario Securities Commission where he had been Senior Legal Counsel with the Enforcement Branch. Prior to that he practiced corporate and securities law with a major national law firm. Mark’s extensive experience in securities law and regulatory enforcement includes a secondment in 1993 with the Broker Dealer Enforcement Division of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission in New York. Mark obtained a Bachelor of Laws degree from the University of Western Ontario and was called to the Ontario Bar in 1986. Mark graduated from the Directors Education Program offered by the Rotman School of Business and the Institute of Corporate Directors (ICD) in 2012 and holds an ICD.D designation.

Michael Arruda

Manager, Complaints and Investigations and Chief Privacy Officer
Assante Wealth Management

Michael began working in the industry in 2008 and has held a number of positions with Assante Wealth Management as well as CI Investment Inc. throughout the years. Michael is currently the Manager, Complaints and Investigations as well as the Chief Privacy Officer for Assante Wealth Management Ltd.

Joseph Bajic

Chief Compliance Officer and Vice President, Compliance
Assante Financial Management Ltd.

Joseph Bajic is the Chief Compliance Officer and Vice President, Compliance at Assante Financial Management Ltd. Prior to joining Assante, Joseph was Vice President, Compliance of an IIROC dealer where he was responsible for Trading and Capital Markets compliance. Joseph has over 20 years’ experience in the investment industry and has worked at the Toronto Stock Exchange and Market Regulation Services Inc., now the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada. He also sits on various industry and regulatory committees representing the interests of Assante.

Andrew Brown

Senior Vice President
Marsh

Based in Marsh’s Toronto office, Andrew is a Client Executive in the Financial Institutions and Professional Services Practice. Andrew is responsible for overall client service delivery both in a broking and a client service role. Andrew works with various midsize and large clients including chartered banks, life and property/casualty insurance companies, pension plans, law firms, mutual fund companies and professional service firms. He is regularly involved in the negotiation and placement of those coverages that are unique to the financial and professional services industry practice.

Andrew has worked as an Executive Risk and Financial Institutions specialist for the last 15 years, holding a number of senior leadership positions. Most recently, he led the Canadian financial lines specialty practice at another large global insurance broker. Andrew received a Bachelor of Administrative and Commercial studies from the University of Western Ontario in 2002. He has since obtained a Certificate in Risk Management (CRM) from the Global Insurance Risk Management Institute. Andrew is a member of the Canadian chapter of the Professional Liability Underwriting Society.

Robert Brush

Partner
Crawley MacKewn Brush LLP

Robert’s expertise in corporate and securities litigation is widely recognized in both the securities industry and the legal community. He has been ranked by Lexpert in securities litigation and has been featured in Lexpert’s Special Edition on Canada’s Leading Litigation Lawyers. Robert has also been ranked as a Litigation Star in both securities and corporate commercial litigation by Benchmark Canada and by Best Lawyers in Canada in corporate commercial litigation.

Robert regularly represents public companies, investment dealers, officers, directors, shareholders, investment advisors and investors in the myriad disputes that can arise in the capital markets. His securities litigation practice includes class actions, proceedings before securities regulators, director and officer liability claims, shareholder and corporate governance disputes, oppression remedy matters, takeover bid litigation, negligence claims against investment advisors and dealers, and wrongful dismissal suits against investment firms.

Robert has extensive experience representing individual and corporate respondents before the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC), the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC), the Mutual Fund Dealers Association (MFDA) and the Financial Services Commission of Ontario (FSCO).

Robert has appeared before all levels of court in Ontario and, due to his expertise in corporate and securities matters, has been counsel on a wide range of civil cases, class actions and regulatory proceedings across the country. He is a frequent speaker on corporate, securities and civil litigation issues and is a skills instructor at trial practice workshops put on by The Advocates’ Society.

Louis H. DeConinck

President
Investia Financial Services Inc.

Louis H. DeConinck has over 20 years of experience in the mutual fund industry. Louis studied economics at Glendon College in Toronto. He holds the CIM® designation and he is a fellow of the Canadian Securities Institute.

He started his career in the mutual fund industry in 1996 as marketing director for a small dealer and mutual fund company called Groupe Financier Concorde. He then moved on to become Vice-President of Marketing of the firm. In 2001, he joined iA Financial Group’s mutual fund dealer, Investia Financial Services, following iA’s acquisition of Concorde. At Investia, Louis held the position of National Director of Development until 2008 when he was named President.

Entrepreneur, developer and innovator at heart, Louis’ goal has always been to help advisors deliver a unique advisor/client experience. Under his leadership, Investia has grown from a small regional mutual fund dealer to become one of the largest mutual fund dealers in Canada with close to $30 billion in AUA.

Peter Grant

Chief, Operations and Systemic Risk
Canadian Securities Transition Office

Peter Grant is the Chief, Operations and Systemic Risk at the Canadian Securities Transition Office. Peter has worked for the CSTO since its inception in 2009. He leads a small team that is developing the capabilities necessary to effectively administer the proposed federal Capital Markets Stability Act. These capabilities include monitoring activity in the capital markets by collecting, aggregating, and analyzing information; detecting, identifying, and mitigating systemic risks originating in or transmitted through the Canadian capital markets; and contributing to the stability of the financial system (as part of the overall Canadian financial regulatory framework).

Prior to joining the CSTO, Peter worked for the British Columbia Securities Commission for almost nine years. As Director of the Information Management division and Chief Information Officer, he was responsible for information technology, records management, knowledge management, project delivery, privacy and freedom of information, and business continuity planning. Additionally, Peter chaired the Canadian Securities Administrators’ IT committee for five years.

Before joining the BCSC, Peter worked for the Vancouver Stock Exchange and the Canadian Venture Exchange for six years, and the TRIUMF subatomic nuclear particle physics research facility for over ten years.

Peter has a B.Sc. in Computer Science from the University of British Columbia and is Certified in the Governance of Enterprise Information Technology.

Last month, Peter spoke about Stability in Capital Markets at the Bank of England’s annual Shadow Banking seminar.

Carrie Hagerman

Relationships and Guidance Manager, Compliance
FINTRAC | CANAFE

Carrie Hagerman began working for FINTRAC in 2000 when she joined a small transition team that became Canada’s Financial Intelligence Unit. Her first role was to design the analytical methodology for developing money laundering cases based on transactional information. After several years within financial intelligence she created a Financial Intelligence Training Program for FINTRAC which now delivers training on a domestic and international level. Carrie has written and delivered courses on Intelligence Analysis, Financial Intelligence and Internet Techniques. In the last few years she has been leading the project to re-develop FINTRAC guidance and build relationships with the different sectors that report to FINTRAC.

Prior to FINTRAC she worked for the RCMP as a strategic intelligence analyst analyzing drug trafficking and technological crime trends. She has also worked as a strategic intelligence analysts for Criminal Intelligence Service Ontario (CISO). Carrie Hagerman graduated from the University of Western Ontario with a Bachelor of Economics.

Larry Keating

CEO
NPC DataGuard

Larry Keating is the president and CEO of NPC. He invented and brought to market his industry’s first secure managed endpoint computing solution.

For eight years Larry served as the founding chairman of the Ministers’ Technology Advisory Group for the Province of Ontario – an ad hoc committee offering vision and industry insight to the Province’s technology strategy. He was also a member of the Chair’s Advisory Council on e-Government, and served as a technical advisor to the Lieutenant Governor of Ontario for the Aboriginal Computer Literacy Program. Larry is currently a member of the Investment Industry Association of Canada’s Cyber Security Committee and past chairman of the board of Vanity Software Corp.

The Information & Privacy Commissioner of Ontario has recognized Larry as a Privacy by Design Ambassador, who advocate that privacy be built into systems from the outset, making privacy protection an organization’s default mode of operation.

Patricia Kloepfer

Chief Compliance Officer
Investors Group Financial Services Inc.

Pat Kloepfer is head of Compliance for Investors Group’s MFDA, IIROC and insurance affiliates. Pat leads a team of over 90 dedicated compliance staff located in Winnipeg, Montreal and Toronto, responsible for supervision, compliance audits, client complaint investigations and advisor compliance training. In her role, Pat works with business leaders across the organization to promote good business practices and ensure that initiatives and developments are aligned with sound client-first principles. Prior to taking the CCO role, Pat gained experience in progressively senior roles including positions in internal audit, finance, operations and distribution. Pat earned her Chartered Accountant designation while working in public practice with KPMG, and holds a Bachelor of Commerce (Hons.) degree from the University of Manitoba. She is actively engaged in industry organizations and is a member of the IIROC CCLS Executive, the IIROC Manitoba District Council, and the MFDA Prairie Regional Council.

Yasmin Nizami, LL.B., CAMS

Senior Manager, Enterprise Policies and Legislative Development
BMO Financial Group

Yasmin Nizami, Senior Manager, Enterprise Policies and Legislative Development, has almost 25 years’ experience as a legal and business advisor. First hired at BMO in 2012 as Senior Counsel and Vice President in Legal, she has held her current position since November 2013. Prior to BMO, Ms. Nizami was the Litigation Counsel for Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation, where her duties included being the AML legal resource for the company. Ms. Nizami began her legal career in private practice, as a litigator with a national law firm. Ms. Nizami had a 10 year career as an engineering consultant prior to becoming a lawyer.

Ms. Nizami has undergraduate and master’s degrees in Applied Science from Queen’s University and an LL.B. from the University of British Columbia. Ms. Nizami is also a Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist.

Tim Pryor

Vice-President, Legal
Mackenzie Financial Corporation

Tim Pryor has been Vice-President, Legal at Mackenzie Financial Corporation Since October 2005 where he provides legal services to Mackenzie Financial Corporation and certain of its affiliates. He is also responsible for managing the legal affairs for the Investment Planning Counsel group of companies. Among his many accomplishments, he has had been responsible for the legal services in connection with numerous acquisitions by the Investment Planning Counsel group of companies. From 1998 to 2005 he was General Counsel of Assante Canada. Prior to that he was General Counsel of a technology firm and an electrical mechanical contractor.

Michael Stanley

President
Sterling Mutuals

Michael Stanley is the President of Sterling Mutuals, a mutual fund dealer supporting Canadians through an independent network of financial advisors across the country. Throughout his career he has been involved in numerous fund manager due diligence committees, product optimization reviews and fund oversight boards.

Michael currently serves on the board of directors of the Investment Funds Institute of Canada where he was the past chair of the CRM2 Communication Task Force, he is also active on industry matters through the Federation of Mutual Fund Dealers. He is a graduate of the University of Western Ontario, a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries and possesses a Masters degree in Finance from the London School of Economics, U.K..

Some of his most challenging risk assignments have come in coaching youth soccer where the desire to win needs to be balanced with fueling a love for the game and a sense for fair play. This while also dealing with the conflicts that emerge from the outside influences of parents, referees and the competition.

Karen Woodman

Chief Compliance Officer
Sun Life Financial Investment Services (Canada) Inc.

Karen Woodman joined Sun Life in April of 2016 as Chief Compliance Officer (CCO), Sun Life Financial Investment Services Inc. and AVP, Individual Distribution Compliance. In this role Karen leads the mutual fund dealer compliance team as well as providing compliance oversight to the entire Individual Insurance & Wealth distribution organization.

Prior to joining Sun Life, Karen held several diverse senior level positions including CCO, Vice-President, Operations and Vice-President, Finance at FundEX Investment Inc,. and Vice-President, Operations at Fundtrade Financial Corporation.

Karen graduated from the University of Guelph with a Bachelor of Commerce in Economics and Finance and holds the Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA) and Certified General Accountant (CGA) designations.

Shaun Devlin

Shaun Devlin, LL.B.

Senior Vice-President, Member Regulation – Enforcement
Mutual Fund Dealers Association of Canada

Shaun joined the MFDA in 2003 and has participated in the MFDA’s development since that date. He is responsible for the MFDA’s enforcement operations, including its Case Assessment, Investigation and Litigation activities. Shaun is also responsible for the MFDA’s investor outreach and educational activities.

Shaun has extensive regulatory experience as enforcement counsel with the Ontario Securities Commission and other financial regulators. He also has significant industry experience and has held compliance positions with banking, securities distribution and investment fund management organizations. Shaun has an LL.B. from York University and is Member of the Ontario Bar.

Karen McGuinness

Senior Vice-President, Member Regulation – Compliance
Mutual Fund Dealers Association of Canada

Karen McGuinness, Senior Vice-President, Member Regulation – Compliance, has been with the MFDA since its inception in 1998. In addition to having joint responsibility for the MFDA’s investor outreach and Member education initiatives, Karen also oversees the MFDA’s Compliance, Financial Compliance and Membership Services departments. Compliance and Financial Compliance monitor the conduct of Members and Approved Persons to assess compliance with the MFDA’s financial and sales practice requirements. Membership Services is responsible for the MFDA’s communication function.

Karen has previously held positions in the Enforcement Branch at the Ontario Securities Commission and as a Manager in the Litigation, Valuation and Forensic Services department of a large international accounting firm.

Brett Konyu

Manager, Member Education
Mutual Fund Dealers Association of Canada

Brett Konyu has been with the MFDA since April 2001. As part of the MFDA’s Member Education initiative, Brett is involved in providing Members with educational material on current industry issues and best practices guides for complying with regulatory requirements. Previously Brett was a Manager in the Sales Compliance Department monitoring the conduct of Members and Approved Persons. Prior to joining the MFDA, Brett held various positions with mutual fund and securities dealers.

Carlo Quattrociocchi

Director of Investigations
Mutual Fund Dealers Association of Canada

Carlo Quattrociocchi is Director of Investigations at the Mutual Fund Dealers Association of Canada (“MFDA”) where he has worked for the past 14 years. He is a CPA, CA. Prior to joining the MFDA he worked in the Compliance department at the Ontario Securities Commission.

Jeffrey Yewer

Manager, Compliance
Mutual Fund Dealers Association of Canada

Jeffrey Yewer has been with the MFDA since February 2005. As a Manager in the Sales Compliance Department, Jeffrey is involved in executing Member compliance examinations and monitoring the conduct of Members and Approved Persons. Prior to joining the MFDA, Jeffrey held positions at a Member firm and the Ontario Securities Commission.