The Ontario Securities Commission has approved a settlement agreement between its staff and Dundee Securities Corp. over the company’s failure to adequately supervise certain accounts.

Under the agreement, approved Aug. 8 by OSC Executive Director Charlie Macfarlane, Dundee undertakes to review its current compliance function and implement any required policies and procedures. Dundee must also pay $150,000 to cover investigation costs.

The settlement says that from August 1999 to May 2000, a registered representative with Dundee assisted clients in purchasing shares of various companies using funds located in their locked-in RRSPs. “Concurrently, the clients obtained a loan, at times with the assistance of the registered representative, from the scheme’s promoters representing a portion of the purchase price of the shares, varying from approximately 60% to 80%,” the OSC said in a statement. “Dundee had no knowledge of the loans.”

“Dundee agreed that they failed to adequately supervise these accounts and the registered representative’s actions in relation to these accounts, contrary to the public interest and contrary to section 3.1 of Ontario Securities Commission Rule 31-505, which requires a dealer to supervise each of its registered salespersons in accordance with Ontario Securities law.”