An advisor who ran a web site called TaxDeductibleMortgage.com has been fined $40,000, ordered to pay $2,500 in costs, and banned from the mutual fund business for three months.

The Mutual Fund Dealers Association has found that Einar Lisborg, a former advisor with Networth Financial Corporation in British Columbia, not only falsified client signatures on 87 account forms but that he also allowed an assistant to fake signatures on another 42 account forms.

The signatures were falsified on account applications, Know-Your-Client forms, transfer authorizations, leverage disclosure forms, and limited trade authorizations. Lisborg told the MFDA that he falsified the signatures in order to facilitate the transfer of client accounts from his old mutual fund dealer to his new one.

Clients were aware of changes

In a settlement agreement released on April 27 the MFDA acknowledged that the clients were aware of the changes and that none of them complained or suffered any financial harm as a result of Lisborg's conduct. In addition, Lisborg did not receive any financial benefit from engaging in the misconduct apart from the commissions or fees he would have collected under normal circumstances. However, the MFDA determined that Lisborg's case was unique because it was prolonged, extensive, and because he involved his assistant.

No longer registered

"Simply stated, falsification of a signature is forgery that, in another context, is a criminal offence," reads the MFDA's reasons for decision. "The falsification in this instance is considerably more egregious because of its repeated occurrence over a period of 10 months, the number of clients whose signatures were forged, and the fact that the Respondent directed his assistant to falsify signatures on his behalf."

The MFDA notes that Lisborg has not been registered in the securities industry since Networth terminated his contract in January 2014.