IN THE MATTER OF Mario Bouchard - Settlement

MONTRÉAL, Jan. 19 /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, March 2, 2010 , at 10:00 a.m. or as soon thereafter as possible, at 5 Place Ville-Marie, Suite 1550, Montréal, Québec, in the board room, to determine whether it should, pursuant to IIROC Dealer Member Rule 20.36, accept the Settlement Agreement between IIROC Staff and Mario Bouchard (the Respondent). The subject matter of the proposed Settlement Agreement concerns allegations that:

    
    (a)    On or about July 6, 2004, the Respondent failed in his duty to
           protect the public in supervising the transactions effected in the
           account of client "A" by a representative under his supervision,
           with regard to deposits of share certificates, notably by an
           insider who was also a client of the Respondent, thereby failing
           to ensure that these transactions were within the bounds of good
           business practice, although he knew or should have known that the
           transactions could be an indicator of an activity or behaviour
           that was suspicious or contrary to the public interest, contrary
           to Regulation 1300, Policy No. 2 and By-Law 29 of the Association;

    (b)    From July 2004 to October 2004, the Respondent failed in his duty
           to protect the public in supervising the transactions effected in
           the account of client "A" by a representative under his
           supervision, with regard to the routine execution of sell orders
           following deposits of share certificates, notably by an insider
           who was also a client of the Respondent, and to requests for the
           issuance of cheques to third parties, thereby failing to ensure
           that these transactions were within the bounds of good business
           practice, although he knew or should have known that the
           transactions could be an indicator of an activity or behaviour
           that was suspicious or contrary to the public interest, contrary
           to Regulation 1300, Policy No. 2 and By-Law 29 of the Association;

    (c)    From July 2004 to October 2004, the Respondent failed to track and
           keep a proper record of his daily supervision reviews and of his
           inquiries and their follow-up, with regard to the transactions
           executed in the account of client "A", as required by Policy No. 2
           and By-law 29 of the Association.

    (d)    On or about September 29, 2006, the Respondent engaged in business
           conduct unbecoming or detrimental to the public interest, in that
           he failed to respect Standard C of the Conduct and Practices
           Handbook, which relates to professionalism, when he covered the
           losses of client "I" with his own funds, without the knowledge of
           the firm, contrary to By-law 29.1.
    

IIROC formally initiated the investigations into the Respondent's conduct on January 19, 2006 and on September 14, 2009 . The violations are alleged to have occurred while the Respondent was the branch manager, or a Registered Representative Options (Retail) at the Rouyn-Noranda branch of National Bank Financial Inc., an IIROC-regulated firm. Mr. Bouchard is no longer a registrant with an IIROC-regulated firm.

The hearing is not open to the public unless and until the Settlement Agreement has been accepted by the Hearing Panel. If the Hearing Panel accepts the Settlement Agreement, the Hearing Panel's decision and reasons will be made available to the public.

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: Carmen Crépin, Vice President, Québec, [phone], [email protected]; Jeff Kehoe, Director, Enforcement Litigation, [phone], [email protected]