IN THE MATTER OF Carolann Steinhoff - Discipline
VANCOUVER, March 12 /CNW/ - Following a disciplinary hearing held on November 12, 13, 16-19, 23-26, and December 2-4, 2009, in Vancouver, British Columbia, a Hearing Panel of the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC) found that Carolann Steinhoff (the Respondent):
1. From approximately January 2004 until approximately March 17, 2007, engaged in business conduct or practice that was unbecoming or detrimental to the public interest contrary to Dealer Member Rule 29.1, by encouraging, instructing, or condoning the use of a cut and paste procedure whereby her assistants created fake documents and faxed them to her firm's head office as properly executed documents; 2. Engaged in business conduct or practice that was unbecoming or detrimental to the public interest contrary to Dealer Member Rule 29.1 on March 13, 2007, and March 14, 2007, in that she directly instructed two different assistants to create a false client Guarantee and fax it to her firm's head office as a properly executed document by: (a) changing the date on an approximately 3-year-old Guarantee and inserting a new date without having the client sign it; and (b) cutting out the client signature from another document already on file and pasting it on to a new Guarantee and then photocopying and faxing it; and 3. Engaged in business conduct or practice that was unbecoming or detrimental to the public interest contrary to Dealer Member Rule 29.1 from approximately March 2007 to October 2008 in that she attempted to frustrate or obstruct separate investigations being conducted by her firm and by IIROC into the subject matter of Counts 1 and 2 by: (a) providing answers that were not true or complete with respect to her actions and intentions relating to those Counts; (b) altering a courier delivery receipt so as to support a version of the facts that she had previously given and presenting it in its altered version to IIROC investigators; and (c) suborning her assistant Bonnie Reside to make evasive or misleading statements to her firm and IIROC that were favourable to the Respondent and consistent with the story she had told them.
IIROC formally initiated the investigation into the Respondent's conduct on July 3, 2007. The violations occurred when the Respondent was a Registered Representative (RR) with the 240-730 View Street Branch of Wellington West Capital Inc. in Victoria, BC. The Respondent is currently an RR with the 340A-730 View Street, Victoria sub-branch of Queensbury Securities Inc., an IIROC-regulated firm.
The Hearing Panel issued its Decision and Reasons on March 8, 2010. A separate hearing will be held in due course to determine the penalty to be imposed on the Respondent.
The Hearing Panel's Decision and Reasons are available at www.iiroc.ca.
IIROC is the national self-regulatory organization which oversees all investment dealers and trading activity on debt and equity marketplaces in Canada. Created in 2008 through the consolidation of the Investment Dealers Association of Canada and Market Regulation Services Inc., IIROC sets high quality regulatory and investment industry standards, protects investors and strengthens market integrity while maintaining efficient and competitive capital markets. IIROC carries out its regulatory responsibilities through setting and enforcing rules regarding the proficiency, business and financial conduct of dealer firms and their registered employees and through setting and enforcing market integrity rules regarding trading activity on Canadian equity marketplaces.
For further information: For further information: Warren Funt, Vice President, Western Canada, (604) 331-4750, [email protected]; Jeff Kehoe, Director, Enforcement Litigation, (416) 943-6996, [email protected]
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