IIROC announces settlement with Hung Fai Raymond Kwok

A hearing panel of the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC) has accepted a settlement agreement, which includes sanctions, between IIROC staff and Hung Fai Raymond Kwok.

In the agreement, Mr. Kwok admitted he personally compensated three clients for financial losses, without the knowledge or consent of his firm, contrary to IDA By-Law 29.1 (now IIROC Dealer Member Rule 29.1). The losses were incurred after the clients acted on Mr. Kwok’s advice.

As part of the penalty, Mr. Kwok agreed to:

‡ pay a $15,000 fine and $3,000 in costs; ‡ a suspension from being registered with IIROC in any capacity for a period of six months beginning July 29, 2010; ‡ re-write and pass the Conduct and Practices Handbook examination prior to being eligible for any future IIROC registration; and ‡ work under close supervision for 12 months upon being registered with IIROC in any capacity.

IIROC began the investigation into Mr. Kwok’s conduct on November 3, 2009. The violations occurred in 2007 when Mr. Kwok was a registered representative with a Vancouver area office of HSBC Securities (Canada) Inc. Mr. Kwok is no longer registered with an IIROC-regulated firm.

The written reasons for the panel’s decision will be published when available.

IIROC investigates possible misconduct by its member firms and/or individual registrants. It can bring disciplinary proceedings which may result in penalties including fines, suspensions and permanent bans or terminations for individuals and firms.

All information about disciplinary proceedings relating to current and former member firms is available in the Enforcement section of the IIROC website. Background information regarding the qualifications and disciplinary history, if any, of advisors currently employed by IIROC-regulated firms is available free of charge through the IIROC AdvisorReport service. Information on how to make investment dealer, advisor or marketplace-related complaints is available by calling 1.877.442.4322.

(09/21/10)

Staff

The staff of Advisor.ca have been covering news for financial advisors since 1998.