Sanctions amount to more than $20,000
A hearing of the Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization (CIRO) has issued its Reasons for Decision in line with a settlement hearing regarding the Baljit Bassi Rana matter.
The Reasons for Decision entailed that the following sanctions will be imposed on Rana:
- shall pay a fine in the amount of $18,000; and
- shall pay costs in the amount of $2,500.
The issuance was in line with the settlement hearing held electronically through videoconference on May 25, 2023.
During the settlement hearing last May, Rana had admitted to acting contrary to Mutual Fund Dealer Rules by photocopying signature pages from account forms that were previously signed by two clients as well as reusing the signed pages on four account forms before submitting the forms to the Member for processing.
Rana had also admitted to altering and processing transactions of seven account forms by changing information on the forms without having the client initial the alterations as well as obtaining, possessing, and processing transactions of 11 pre-signed account forms of 9 clients.
During the period that was described in the Notice of Hearing, Rana had conducted business in the Golden, British Columbia area.
CIRO is the national self-regulatory organization overseeing all investment dealers, mutual fund dealers, and trading activity on Canada’s debt and equity marketplaces.
A copy of the Reasons for Decision is made available on the Mutual Fund Dealers Association of Canada (MFDA) website while information about disciplinary proceedings about current and former member firms as well as individual registrants that were under the Investment Dealer and Partially Consolidated Rules, the Mutual Fund Dealer Rules, and the Universal Market Integrity Rules can be found on CIRO’s website.
