IN THE MATTER OF Jean-Guy Ducharme - Set Date

MONTREAL, May 17 /CNW/ - Notice is hereby given that a hearing will be held before a Hearing Panel of the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC) on Tuesday June 1, 2010, at 2:00 p.m. or as soon thereafter as possible, at 5 Place Ville-Marie, Suite 1550, Montréal, in the matter of Jean-Guy Ducharme (the Respondent).

The proposed hearing concerns matters for which the Respondent may be disciplined as a Regulated Person of IIROC, pursuant to Part 10 of IIROC Dealer Member Rule 20.

The hearing relates to allegations that:

    
    (a) In April 2005, the Respondent engaged in conduct unbecoming and
        detrimental to the public interest and failed to observe high
        standards of ethics and conduct, particularly with respect to
        Standard C of the Conduct and Practices Handbook, which relates to
        professionalism, contrary to IDA By-Law 29.1, when he purchased
        shares in public company A for valuable consideration, for his own
        account, and over the counter, through representative B, without
        prior disclosure of the projected trade to the firm;

    (b) In August 2005, the Respondent engaged in conduct unbecoming and
        detrimental to the public interest and failed to observe high
        standards of ethics and conduct, particularly with respect to
        Standard C of the Conduct and Practices Handbook, which relates to
        professionalism, contrary to IDA By-Law 29.1, when he purchased
        shares in public company C for his own account and directly from D,
        without prior disclosure of the projected trade to the firm;

    (c) Between December 2004 and January 2006, the Respondent engaged in
        conduct unbecoming and detrimental to the public interest and failed
        to observe high standards of ethics and conduct, particularly with
        respect to Standard A of the Conduct and Practices Handbook, which
        relates to the Duty of Care (know your client, reasonable diligence),
        when he failed to ensure that investment recommendations made with
        regard to clients E and F were in keeping with their investment goals
        and their risk tolerance, contrary to IDA By-Law 29.1 and to
        Regulation 1300.1(a) and 1300.1(p);

    (d) Between December 2004 and January 2006, the Respondent engaged in
        conduct unbecoming and detrimental to the public interest and failed
        to observe high standards of ethics and conduct, contrary to IDA By-
        Law 29.1, relative to the merit and relevance of investment
        recommendations made with respect to the shares of C and G; whereas
        the Respondent and the representatives on the B and H team held these
        shares in their personal accounts; whereas the Respondent had
        purchased the shares in C, notably, on the recommendations of B;
        whereas he knew or should have known about the privileged ties that B
        maintained with insiders of these companies, who were also clients of
        the team; and whereas, as at December 31, 2005, 248 of the team's
        accounts held approximately 18.5% of the outstanding shares in C and
        128 accounts held approximately 1.5% of the outstanding shares in G.
    

The IDA formally initiated the investigation into the Respondent's conduct on March 25, 2008. The violations are alleged to have occurred while the Respondent was a Registered Representative with the Brossard Branch of Desjardins Securities Inc. The Respondent is no longer a registrant with an IIROC-regulated firm.

The hearing is open to the public, unless the Hearing Panel orders otherwise.

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: Claudyne Bienvenu, Regional Director, Regulation, [phone], [email protected]; Jeff Kehoe, Acting Vice President, Enforcement, [phone], [email protected]