Former rep fined, banned by CIRO

A former rep has been fined and banned for admittedly misappropriating client funds, and lying about it, among other violations.

A hearing panel of the Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization (CIRO) approved a settlement with Domino Au-Young, a former rep with National Bank Financial Ltd. (NBF) and Echelon Wealth Partners Inc.

Au-Young admitted that he misappropriated $30,000 from one client and US$45,000 from another, and misled both his firm and SRO staff about those events.

According to the settlement, Au-Young used falsified letters from the clients to instruct NBF to issue cheques payable to Vancouver Bullion & Currency Exchange, and then had that money transferred into his own bank accounts.

Au-Young told both his firm and CIRO investigators that he gave the money to the clients outside of the Vancouver Bullion & Currency Exchange office in Richmond, B.C., “which was a false statement,” it said.

He also admitted to communicating with clients over WeChat, an unapproved communication method, despite repeated warnings from his firm; and to failing to disclose, or get approval for, an outside business activity.

As part of the settlement, Au-Young was permanently banned, fined $125,000 and ordered to pay $7,500 in costs.

James Langton

James is a senior reporter for Advisor.ca and its sister publication, Investment Executive. He has been reporting on regulation, securities law, industry news and more since 1994.