The Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC) has suspended and fined a former registered representative in Ontario for not disclosing his registration as a broker in the United States, among other violations.
Following a disciplinary hearing held on Dec. 10, 2013, in Toronto, Ontario, an IIROC hearing panel of the found that Rajiv Puri had been registered as a broker in the U.S. without disclosing those registrations to his member firm, and that he had opened accounts for clients without conducting adequate due diligence.
The violations occurred from 2008 to 2012 while he was a registered rep with PWM Capital Inc., now known as Arton Investments.
The panel found that Puri was registered in the U.S. with three Financial Industry Regulatory Authority member firms, without disclosing those registrations to his firm, and that he opened accounts for six clients in connection with the purchase of MobileBits Holdings Corp., an Over the Counter Bulletin Board stock, without conducting adequate due diligence into the opening of the accounts.
The penalties imposed on Puri include a six-month suspension from registration, fines totalling $36,000, a requirement to re-write and pass the IIROC Conduct and Practices Handbook Examination as a condition of being re-registered and strict supervision for 12 months upon any re-registration with IIROC.
Puri is also required to pay $10,000 costs in the amount of $10,000. He is no longer a registrant with an IIROC-regulated firm.