On April 18, 2012, a Hearing Panel of the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC) accepted a Settlement Agreement between the IIROC staff, Mark Steven Rotstein and Jessica Elisabeth Zackheim.

Rotstein and Zackheim admitted that for more than a decade, until March 2011, they signed client names on account- and investment-related documents and passed those signatures off as the clients’ own, contrary to IDA By-law 29.1 and IIROC Dealer Member Rule 29.1.

Pursuant to the Settlement Agreement, Rotstein and Zackheim agreed to the following penalty:

a. Rotstein shall pay IIROC a fine in the amount of $250,000;

b. Zackheim shall pay IIROC a fine in the amount of $50,000;

c. Rotstein is prohibited from registration with IIROC for a period of 12 months, to be served in two intervals of six consecutive months without interruption, which intervals shall be completed by no later than October 15, 2014;

d. Zackheim is prohibited from registration with IIROC for a period of 12 months, to be served in two intervals of six consecutive months without interruption, which intervals shall be completed by no later than October 15, 2014; and

e. Rotstein’s and Zackheim’s registration terms and conditions imposed pursuant to the Ontario District Council Registration Subcommittee Decision dated July 21, 2011, modified as necessary and set out in the Appendix to the Settlement Agreement, shall remain in place until April 30, 2015.

Rotstein and Zackheim also agreed to pay costs in the amount of $10,000.

IIROC formally initiated the investigation into Rotstein’s and Zackheim’s conduct in May 2011. The conduct at issue occurred when Rotstein was a registered representative and Zackheim was an investment representative at the North York Branch of RBC Dominion Securities Inc., an IIROC-regulated firm.

Rotstein and Zackheim are now registered in those capacities at the head office branch of Scotia Capital Inc., an IIROC-regulated firm.

Read the settlement agreement.