Murray Greenberg, a former mutual fund salesman from Alberta, has been fined $250,000 for engaging in outside securities-related business and for failing to inform his firm of a client complaint.
Between September 2005 and April 2009, Greenberg recommend and facilitated the sale of roughly $13.45 million of investment products to about 40 clients, according to documents from the Toronto-based Mutual Fund Dealers Association of Canada (MFDA). All investments were made in four different companies in the mortgage, real estate and exempt market sectors. These investments were neither processed through Greenberg’s employer Partners in Planning Financial Services Ltd. (PIP) nor was the firm made aware of sales.
Instead, the investments were made through Financial Dynamics Inc. (FDI) and Dootkey Powder Company Ltd., according to the MFDA, which were owned by Greenberg and his spouse. Greenberg’s spouse would sign referral agreements on behalf of Dootkey with the four companies being invested in. In total, the MFDA found that Greenberg received a commission of roughly $1.06 million either directly or indirectly for these investments.
Furthermore, in July 2009, Greenberg received a letter from a client’s lawyer to complain about an investment made in one of the four companies. Instead of informing PIP, the MFDA says Greenberg referred the letter to his lawyer who dealt with the client’s lawyer directly. The client issued a statement of claim against Greenberg, FDI and PIP one year later.
In addition to the fine, Greenberg must pay $10,000 in costs and is permanently prohibited from conducting securities related business with an MFDA member. Greenberg is not currently registered in the securities industry.