Settlement Agreement

I. INTRODUCTION

1. The Mutual Fund Dealers Association of Canada (the “MFDA”) will announce that it proposes to hold a hearing (the “Settlement Hearing”) to consider whether, pursuant to section 24.4 of MFDA By-law No. 1, a hearing panel of the Pacific Regional Council (the “Hearing Panel”) of the MFDA should accept the settlement agreement (the “Settlement Agreement”) entered into between Staff of the MFDA (“Staff”) and Christopher Glenn Roberts (the “Respondent”).
2. Staff and the Respondent, consent and agree to the terms of this Settlement Agreement.
3. Staff and the Respondent jointly recommend that the Hearing Panel accept the Settlement Agreement.

II. CONTRAVENTIONS

4. The Respondent admits to the following violations of the By-laws, Rules or Policies of the MFDA:
   1. Between October 20, 2020 and October 22, 2020, the Respondent signed a client’s signature on 4 account forms and submitted the forms to the Member for processing contrary to MFDA Rule 2.1.1.

III. TERMS OF SETTLEMENT

5. Staff and the Respondent agree and consent to the following terms of settlement:
   1. the Respondent shall pay a fine in the amount of $10,000 in certified funds upon acceptance of the Settlement Agreement, pursuant to section 24.1.1(b) of MFDA By-law No.1;
   2. the Respondent shall pay costs in the amount of $2,500 in certified funds upon acceptance of the Settlement Agreement, pursuant to section 24.2 of MFDA By-law No.1;
   3. the Respondent shall in the future comply with MFDA Rule 2.1.1; and
   4. the Respondent shall attend in person or by videoconference on the date set for the Settlement Hearing.
6. Staff and the Respondent agree to the settlement on the basis of the facts set out in this Settlement Agreement herein and consent to the making of an Order in the form attached as Schedule “A”.

IV. AGREED FACTS

Registration History

7. Commencing in 2014, the Respondent was registered in British Columbia in the securities industry.
8. From February 27, 2019 to November 17, 2020, the Respondent was registered in British Columbia as a dealing representative with TD Investment Services Inc. (the “Member”), a Member of the MFDA.
9. On November 17, 2020, the Member terminated the Respondent as a result of the conduct described herein, and he is not currently registered in the securities industry in any capacity.
10. At all material times, the Respondent conducted business in the Chilliwack, British Columbia area.

Signing a Client’s Signature

11. At all material times, the Member’s policies and procedures prohibited the falsification of any account information, record or documentation in any way, including signing or initialing documents on behalf of a client.
12. From October 20, 2020 and October 22, 2020, the Respondent signed a client’s signature on 4 Transaction and Account Maintenance Forms and submitted the forms to the Member for processing.

The Member’s Investigation

13. On October 9, 2020, the Respondent submitted 3 Transaction and Account Maintenance forms to the Member for processing. The Respondent’s branch manager discovered inconsistencies in the information recorded on the forms and asked the Respondent to clarify the inconsistencies with the client.
14. From October 20 to October 22, 2020, the Respondent then submitted the 4 new Transaction and Account Maintenance forms described above. The branch manager reviewed the signatures on these forms and noted that the client signatures were different than the client signatures found on the Transaction and Account Maintenance forms that were previously submitted by the Respondent described in paragraph 13. The branch manager contacted the client who confirmed that that he did not sign the account forms.
15. The Member confirmed that the transactions were authorized, and the client re-signed the account forms in question.
16. The Member completed a review of the Respondent’s trading activity from October 2019 to October 2020, and no additional instances where the Respondent signed client signatures were identified.

Additional Factors

17. There is no evidence that the Respondent received any financial benefit from the conduct set out above beyond any commissions and fees to which he would ordinarily have been entitled had the transactions been carried out in the proper manner.
18. There is no evidence of client loss or complaint. The transactions processed by the Respondent using the account forms described above were authorized by the client.
19. The Respondent has not previously been the subject of MFDA disciplinary proceedings.
20. The Respondent states that during the material time of the contravention his spouse had a serious illness, and as a result of stress that the Respondent was experiencing during this time he exercised poor judgment when he signed the client’s signature on the account forms as described above.
21. The Respondent is currently 64 years of age, is retired, and states that he has no intention of working in the financial services industry in the future.
22. By entering into this Settlement Agreement, the Respondent has saved the MFDA the time, resources, and expenses associated with conducting a full hearing on the allegations.

V. ADDITIONAL TERMS OF SETTLEMENT

23. This settlement is agreed upon in accordance with section 24.4 of MFDA By-law No. 1 and Rules 14 and 15 of the MFDA Rules of Procedure.
24. The Settlement Agreement is subject to acceptance by the Hearing Panel. At or following the conclusion of the Settlement Hearing, the Hearing Panel may either accept or reject the Settlement Agreement. MFDA Settlement Hearings are typically held in the absence of the public pursuant to section 20.5 of MFDA By-law No. 1 and Rule 15.2(2) of the MFDA Rules of Procedure. If the Hearing Panel accepts the Settlement Agreement, then the proceeding will become open to the public and a copy of the decision of the Hearing Panel and the Settlement Agreement will be made available at www.mfda.ca.
25. The Settlement Agreement shall become effective and binding upon the Respondent and Staff as of the date of its acceptance by the Hearing Panel. Unless otherwise stated, any monetary penalties and costs imposed upon the Respondent are payable immediately, and any suspensions, revocations, prohibitions, conditions or other terms of the Settlement Agreement shall commence, upon the effective date of the Settlement Agreement.
26. Staff and the Respondent agree that if this Settlement Agreement is accepted by the Hearing Panel:
    1. the Settlement Agreement will constitute the entirety of the evidence to be submitted at the settlement hearing, subject to rule 15.3 of the MFDA Rules of Procedure;
    2. the Respondent agrees to waive any rights to a full hearing, a review hearing or appeal before the Board of Directors of the MFDA or any securities commission with jurisdiction in the matter under its enabling legislation, or a judicial review or appeal of the matter before any court of competent jurisdiction;
    3. except for any proceedings commenced to address an alleged failure to comply with this Settlement Agreement, Staff will not initiate any proceeding under the By-laws of the MFDA against the Respondent in respect of the contraventions described in this Settlement Agreement. Nothing in this Settlement Agreement precludes Staff from investigating or initiating proceedings in respect of any contraventions that are not set out in this Settlement Agreement, whether known or unknown at the time of settlement.  Furthermore, nothing in this Settlement Agreement shall relieve the Respondent from fulfilling any continuing regulatory obligations;
    4. the Respondent shall be deemed to have been penalized by the Hearing Panel pursuant to section 24.1.1 of MFDA By-law No. 1 for the purpose of giving notice to the public thereof in accordance with section 24.5 of MFDA By-law No. 1; and
    5. neither Staff nor the Respondent will make any public statement inconsistent with this Settlement Agreement. Nothing in this section is intended to restrict the Respondent from making full answer and defence to any civil or other proceedings against the Respondent.
27. If this Settlement Agreement is accepted by the Hearing Panel and, at any subsequent time, the Respondent fails to honour any of the Terms of Settlement set out herein, Staff reserves the right to bring proceedings under section 24.3 of the By-laws of the MFDA against the Respondent based on, but not limited to, the facts set out in this Settlement Agreement, as well as the breach of the Settlement Agreement.  If such additional enforcement action is taken, the Respondent agrees that the proceeding(s) may be heard and determined by a hearing panel comprised of all or some of the same members of the hearing panel that accepted the Settlement Agreement, if available.
28. If, for any reason, this Settlement Agreement is not accepted by the Hearing Panel, each of Staff and the Respondent will be entitled to any available proceedings, remedies and challenges, including proceeding to a disciplinary hearing pursuant to sections 20 and 24 of MFDA By-law No. 1, unaffected by the Settlement Agreement or the settlement negotiations.
29. The terms of this Settlement Agreement will be treated as confidential by the parties hereto until accepted by the Hearing Panel, and forever if, for any reason whatsoever, this Settlement Agreement is not accepted by the Hearing Panel, except with the written consent of both the Respondent and Staff or as may be required by law. The terms of the Settlement Agreement, including the attached Schedule “A”, will be released to the public if and when the Settlement Agreement is accepted by the Hearing Panel.
30. The Settlement Agreement may be signed in one or more counterparts which together shall constitute a binding agreement. A facsimile or electronic copy of any signature shall be as effective as an original signature.