The Mutual Fund Dealers Association (MFDA) announced that is has approved a settlement agreement between MFDA staff and Rakeshkumar Patel, of Brampton, Ontario. Under the agreement, Patel is barred from conducting securities related business in any capacity with any MFDA member firm for two years and must pay $7,500 in fines and costs.

In the settlement agreement, Patel admitted that he changed a client’s address from the residential address given, to the branch address where he conducted business, without the client’s knowledge or authorization. The client, who later complained, consequently did not receive any quarterly account statements or confirmation notices associated with transaction processed in his investment accounts.

In response to a supervisory query concerning the suitability of a trade in that client’s account, Patel then changed the client’s Know-Your-Client (KYC) update form without the client’s knowledge or authorization, falsified the client’s signature and then misled his firm while it was conducting a supervisory investigation. Patel was terminated by BMO Investments Inc. in January 2016.