A mutual fund advisor from Welland, Ontario has been suspended from conducting securities-related business for a month and fined $21,000 after a hearing panel of the Mutual Fund Dealers Association (MFDA) found he altered as well as obtained pre-signed account forms.
Robert Earl Ledingham admitted that between July 28, 2014 and January 15, 2019, he photocopied signature pages from account forms that had been signed by clients and re-used the signature pages to complete eight additional forms in respect of three clients.
Advisor alters information on account forms with no client initials
He also acknowledged that between April 26, 2012 and January 15, 2019, he altered and used to process transactions 57 account forms in respect of 37 clients by altering information on the account forms without having the client initial the alterations.
And, between May 9, 2012 and March 11, 2019, Ledingham obtained, possessed, and in some instances used to process transactions, 67 pre-signed account forms in respect of 43 clients.
