Photocopying signatures constitutes falsification

A Mutual Fund Dealers Association of Canada (MFDA) hearing panel has issued its reasons for decision in the matter of Joyce Elaine Ross, who admitted to photocopying and re-using client signature pages.

Ross is also being sanctioned for altering documents without getting written client confirmation authorizing the alterations.

Registered since June 2001 with PFSL Investments Canada Ltd., and a branch manager since September 2009, the Burnaby, British Columbia dealing representative between September 2015 and May 2020 photocopied the signature pages of account forms for five different clients to complete 16 additional account forms. Between July 2015 and July 2020, she also altered 12 account forms for six different clients, without having clients initial the changes. “The respondent relied on these altered forms to process transactions,” the MFDA writes in its reasons for decision.

Resigned from branch manager position 

The alterations and photocopied signatures were discovered during an internal review. The firm contacted all affected clients and Ross resigned her branch manager position in March 2021. She also voluntarily completed continuing education including the Branch Managers’ Examination Course and the Ethics and Professional Conduct Course offered by the Investment Funds Institute of Canada (IFIC).

No evidence of client loss 

The MFDA reasons for decision goes on to say there is no evidence of client loss, no complaints about her activity and no evidence that her actions lacked client authorization, or that Ross received any financial benefit from her actions beyond ordinary compensation.

“Longstanding MFDA guidance has made clear that using photocopied signature pages and altering information in previously signed documents without the client initialling approval are both forms of signature falsification,” the MFDA writes. “Resorting to these practices undercuts the integrity and reliability of client account documentation.” 

In addition to a fine of $20,000, Ross also agreed to pay costs of $2,500 and has been prohibited from acting as a branch manager or in any supervisory capacity for two months.