release-NOSH201312
For further information, please contact:
Hugh Corbett Managing Director, Enforcement
416-943-4685
NEWS RELEASE
For immediate release
MFDA issues Notice of Settlement Hearing in respect of Felizaida Colinares
December 19, 2013 (Toronto, Ontario) – The MFDA today announced that it has issued a Notice of Settlement Hearing regarding the presentation, review and consideration of a proposed settlement agreement by a Hearing Panel of the MFDA’s Central Regional Council.
The settlement agreement will be between Staff of the MFDA and Felizaida Yancha Colinares (the “Respondent”) and involves matters for which the Respondent may be disciplined by a Hearing Panel pursuant to MFDA By-laws. The proposed settlement agreement concerns allegations that the Respondent:
a) in or about September 2012, engaged in personal financial dealings with a client by borrowing $3,000 from the client, thereby placing her own interests ahead of the client’s interests and creating a conflict or potential conflict of interest which the Respondent failed to address by the exercise of responsible business judgment influenced only by the best interests of the client, contrary to MFDA Rules 2.1.4 and Rule 2.1.1; and
b) in or about 2011 and November 2012, engaged in personal financial dealings with two clients by using the clients’ credit cards to pay personal expenses, thereby placing her own interests ahead of the clients’ interests and creating a conflict or potential conflict of interest which the Respondent failed to address by the exercise of responsible business judgment influenced only by the best interests of the clients, contrary to MFDA Rules 2.1.4 and Rule 2.1.1.
The Settlement Hearing is scheduled to take place on March 6, 2014 at 1:00 p.m. (Eastern), or as soon thereafter as the hearing can held, in the MFDA hearing room located at 121 King Street West, Suite 1000, Toronto, Ontario. The hearing will be open to the public, except as may be required for the protection of confidential matters.
A copy of the Notice of Settlement Hearing is available on the MFDA website at www.mfda.ca. During the period described in the Notice of Settlement Hearing, the Respondent carried on business in Toronto, Ontario.
The MFDA is the self-regulatory organization for Canadian mutual fund dealers, regulating the operations, standards of practice and business conduct of its 112 Members and their approximately 80,000 Approved Persons with a mandate to protect investors and the public interest. For more information about the MFDA’s complaint and enforcement processes, as well as links to ‘Check an Advisor’ and other Investor Tools, visit the For Investors page on the MFDA website.
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