New SRO Hearing Panel accepts settlement agreement with Robert Fulton
April 4, 2023 (Toronto, Ontario) – A settlement hearing in the matter of Robert Jason Alexander Fulton (the “Respondent”) was held electronically by videoconference on March 6, 2023 in Toronto, Ontario before a three-member Hearing Panel of the Ontario District Hearing Committee of the New Self-Regulatory Organization of Canada (“New SRO”).
The Hearing Panel accepted the settlement agreement dated December 14, 2022 (the “Settlement Agreement”), between Staff of the New SRO and the Respondent as a consequence of which the following sanctions were imposed on the Respondent:
- a fine in the amount of $19,000;
- costs in the amount of $5,000; and
- shall in the future comply with Mutual Fund Dealer Rule 2.1.1.
In the Settlement Agreement, the Respondent admitted that:
- between January 2020 and September 2020, he, 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
- between February 2019 and April 2020, he, 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).
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 conducted business in the London, Ontario area.
New Self-Regulatory Organization of Canada is the national self-regulatory organization that oversees all investment dealers, mutual fund dealers and trading activity on Canada’s debt and equity marketplaces. New SRO is carrying on the regulatory functions of the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada and the Mutual Fund Dealers Association of Canada, and is committed to the protection of investors, providing efficient and consistent regulation, and building Canadians’ trust in financial regulation and the people managing their investments. For more information, visit www.newselfregulatoryorganizationofcanada.ca.
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