The New Self-Regulatory Organization of Canada (New SRO), has sanctioned former Richardson Wealth registered representative, Martin Danielak, fining Danielak $21,000 and ordering him to disgorge commissions totalling $105, after he admitted to entering orders that he ought to have known would create a false or misleading appearance of trading activity.
Specifically, between October and November 2019 while he was employed with Richardson Wealth, he entered 47 buy orders on behalf of a client. “The pattern and method of the order entry demonstrates that the client had no intention to execute the buy orders,” the New SRO settlement agreement with Danielak states. It also states that Danielak was unaware that the client was also making similar trades with another registered representative at Richardson Wealth at the same time.
“The respondent had an obligation to be aware of, and alert to, manipulative and deceptive activity when entering orders on Canada’s equity marketplaces.” Since leaving Richardson, Danielak has also worked as a registered representative at Raymond James and Canaccord Genuity Corp.
Currently employed as portfolio strategist with Raymond James, Danielak is also being sanctioned for receiving trading instructions by text message and deleting those messages without informing his firm about them. In addition to the monetary sanctions and costs totalling $2,500, he is also suspended for two months from accessing any marketplace regulated by the New SRO. Danielak must also rewrite the Conduct and Practices Handbook course.
“The case was resolved by early resolution offer, which granted a 30 per cent reduction on the fine enforcement staff otherwise would have sought,” the regulator states in an announcement about the settlement agreement’s publication. “The respondent has admitted the misconduct described, reducing the length of time required to investigate this matter.”
