The Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC) announced May 7 that Christian Desmarais, a former Drummondville, QC investment advisor has been fined and banned.
Desmarais admitted to the following contraventions, stated the regulator. Firstly, “Between January 29 and February 2, 2016, Mr. Desmarais recommended the purchase of a security to three of his clients, whereas he had information regarding this security that had not been disclosed to the public and whereas he should have known that this information could affect the decision of a reasonable investor…”
Secondly, “Desmarais failed in his duty to protect the financial markets by not taking the appropriate measures in the circumstances, when, after executing a buy transaction in a security for his own account, as well as for the account of a client, he learned information about the security that had not been disclosed to the public and which he should have known could affect the decision of a reasonable investor…”
IIROC’s sanctions include: a fine of $25,000 for count 1 and a fine of $15,000 for count 2; disgorgement of the net benefit, after tax, derived by Desmarais as a result of the trading activities in question, namely an amount of $30,000 and prohibition of registration with IIROC in any capacity for a period of five (5) years, beginning February 24, 2016.
He is also required to pay costs to IIROC in the amount of $2,500 and will be subject to strict supervision for twelve months, in the event of re-registration.
The contraventions occurred while Desmarais was a registered representative at the Drummondville branch of Desjardins Securities Inc., an IIROC-regulated firm. He has not been a registrant with an IIROC-regulated firm since February 24, 2016. To learn more, consult the settlement here.
