A hearing panel of the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC) has imposed a penalty on Michael Thomas Jones which includes a permanent ban from registration in any capacity with an IIROC-regulated firm.
The panel’s decision, based on an agreed statement of facts and violations, found Mr. Jones was liable of misappropriating funds from an elderly client and failing to cooperate with IIROC’s investigation.
The hearing panel imposed the following penalty on Mr. Jones:
• a permanent ban;
• a $25,000 fine for misappropriation;
• $10,000 fine for failure to co-operate; and
• costs in the amount of $8,000.
Specifically, the panel found Mr. Jones:
• violated IIROC Rule 29.1 in or about November, 2007 by engaging in business conduct unbecoming or detrimental to the public interest when he misappropriated funds in the amount of $25,000; and
• violated Rule 19.5 in or about June, 2010 when, as a former registrant of IIROC, he failed to cooperate with an IIROC investigation by refusing to give information.
IIROC began the investigation into Mr. Jones’ conduct in April, 2010 after receiving a client complaint, as well as a notice of termination from his employer BMO Nesbitt Burns Inc. The violations occurred when he was a Registered Representative with the Cambridge, ON branch of BMO Nesbitt Burns, an IIROC-regulated firm. He is no longer a registrant with an IIROC-regulated firm.