A hearing panel of the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada has fined a B.C. rep and ordered him to repay commissions for failing to properly perform his role as gatekeeper to the capital markets.

The violations occurred when Konstantinos Georgakopoulos was a registered representative with the 1177 West Hastings Street Branch of Golden Capital Securities Ltd. in Vancouver.

IIROC formally initiated the investigation into the respondent’s conduct on Aug. 29, 2006.

Following a disciplinary hearing held on Dec. 1-5 and 8-10, 2008, in Vancouver, the panel found that between January and December 2004, Georgakopoulos failed to properly perform his role as gatekeeper to the capital markets by facilitating transactions in client accounts “without making diligent inquiries to ensure the legitimacy of the transactions in circumstances which should have called the transactional activity into question because it was peculiar, suspicious or appeared to be consistent with market manipulation, deception, or other improper market-related activity.”

The panel issued its decision and reasons on May 20, 2009. In a separate penalty decision dated September 7, the panel fined Georgakopoulos $50,000, suspended him from approval for a period of three years, and ordered him to pay $24,576 for disgorgement of commissions and costs in the amount of $40,000.

Georgakopoulos was, until his suspension came into effect on September 14, registered with the 595 Burrard Street Branch of Global Securities Corp. in Vancouver.

IE