(December 23 – – 10:05 ET) – The B.C. Securities Commission has rejected Jean-Claude Hauchecorne’s claim the was sanctioned by the Vancouver Stock Exchange in a biased manner. It has also added four counts to the VSE’s charges.
The VSE hearing panel found Hauchecorne, a former branch manager at Pacific International Securities, liable for 21 infractions against its rules. The infractions relate involvement with eight offshore accounts and dealings with organized crime in the U.S.
Hauchecorne argued comments made by the hearing panel chair revealed bias against him. The BCSC found him liable for four additional infractions, which the hearing panel had dismissed. The BCSC supported the VSE’s penalties: a $200,000 fine, $95,000 in
disgorgement, costs, and a lifetime VSE ban.
The commission emphasized the importance of a broker’s looking “behind any corporate veil to determine who has a financial interest in the account.” It also said “this case demonstrate[s] very clearly the risks that can be encountered by a broker and his firm when the broker fails to learn the identity of his client.”
-IE Staff