A hearing panel for the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC) in Montreal has found that former registered representative Roger Biduk failed to correctly define the investment objectives and risk tolerance of clients while also recommending inappropriate investment strategies.
According to IIROC documents, in 2006 five of the former rep’s clients lost between $14,000 and $80,000 after following a technology sector-focused investment strategy recommend by Biduk.
Of those five clients two were recently divorced women and three were seniors, two of whom were retired, according to IIROC. All five, however, had limited investment knowledge or experience.
Despite their limited knowledge and more conservative investment needs, IIROC documents state that Biduk routinely listed their investment knowledge as “good” on the Know Your Client documents, listed their investment objectives as medium or short term and their risk tolerance as high.
Biduk was fired from Union Securities in April 2010. As well, In February 2007, according to IIROC, Biduk was fined $3,000 by the Chambre de la Sécurité Financière for effecting a trade that was not in the investor’s interest, forging or inducing a third party to induce a client’s signature and failing to co-operate and reply to correspondence from the Chambre.
A penalty will be issued at a separate hearing.