MFDA Hearing Panel accepts settlement agreement with Valerie Riewe

March 7, 2018 (Toronto, Ontario) – A settlement hearing in the matter of Valerie Arlene Riewe (“Respondent”) was held on March 5 in Edmonton, Alberta before a three-member Hearing Panel of the Prairie Regional Council of the Mutual Fund Dealers Association of Canada (“MFDA”).

The Hearing Panel accepted the settlement agreement dated February 20, 2018 (“Settlement Agreement”) between Staff of the MFDA and the Respondent, as a consequence of which the following sanctions were imposed:

• a fine in the amount of $15,000 (“Fine”);
• costs in the amount of $2,500 (“Costs”);
• payment of the Fine and Costs shall be made to and received by MFDA Staff in certified funds as follows:
  • $2,500 (Fine) upon acceptance of the Settlement Agreement;
  • $2,500 (Costs) upon acceptance of the Settlement Agreement;
  • $7,500 on or before the last business day of the 3^rd month following the date of the acceptance of the Settlement Agreement; and
  • $5,000 on or before the last business day of the 6^th month following the date of the acceptance of the Settlement Agreement;
• failure to make any of the installment payments described above will result in:
  • any outstanding balance of the Fine owed shall become immediately due and payable to the MFDA; and
  • a prohibition from conducting securities related business while in the employ of or associated with a Member of the MFDA until such time as the total amount outstanding of the Fine owed is paid to the MFDA;
• a prohibition from acting as a branch manager or in any supervisory capacity for a Member of the MFDA for a period of one month commencing upon the date the Settlement Agreement is accepted;
• shall successfully complete the Branch Manager’s Course within six months of the date the Settlement Agreement is accepted;
• shall in the future comply with MFDA Rule 2.1.1 and 2.5.5(f).

In the Settlement Agreement, the Respondent admitted that:

1. in October 2015, she altered an account form that had been previously signed by a client and used in a previous transaction in order to process a new transaction in the client’s account, contrary to MFDA Rule 2.1.1;
2. between January 2015 and July 2016, she obtained, possessed, and used to process transactions, 17 pre-signed account forms in respect of seven clients, contrary to MFDA Rule 2.1.1; and
3. between January 2015 and July 2016, acting in her capacity as branch manager, she reviewed and approved the use of 1 altered account form and 14 pre-signed account forms, contrary to MFDA Rule 2.1.1 and 2.5.5(f).

A copy of the Settlement Agreement is available on the MFDA website at www.mfda.ca. During the period described in the Settlement Agreement, the Respondent carried on business in the Grand Prairie, Alberta area.

The MFDA is the self-regulatory organization for Canadian mutual fund dealers, regulating the operations, standards of practice and business conduct of its Members and their approximately 83,000 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.