The Ontario Securities Commission has approved a settlement reached between OSC staff and John Steven Hawkyard, a former Bank of Montreal branch manager in Mississauga, Ont., who has admitted to conduct contrary to the public interest.

The OSC suspended the registration of Hawkyard for 12 months. As a condition precedent to the reinstatement of his registration, Hawkyard undertook to successfully complete the ethics seminar of the compliance program, a course offered by the Canadian Securities Institute. The commission also reprimanded Hawkyard.

Hawkyard was initially the manager of the Bank of Montreal – private banking services branch in Mississauga and later moved to BMO Nesbitt Burns Inc. When at Nesbitt, Hawkyard was registered with the commission. The Nesbitt branch was located in the same building and adjacent to the Bank of Montreal branch.

Hawkyard, while employed at the Bank of Montreal and later at Nesbitt, at the request of Nesbitt branch manager John Dunn, prepared and signed letters that contained inaccurate representations and caused another Bank of Montreal employee to prepare and sign these letters. Hawkyard agreed that he acted contrary to the public interest by engaging in this conduct.

On Sept. 23, 2002, the commission had approved the settlement agreement reached between Staff of the Commission and BMO Nesbitt Burns Inc.