The Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) has approved a settlement with the former head of several firms in the flow-through limited partnership business concerning alleged compliance violations that occurred on his watch and supervisory lapses.
The OSC has approved a settlement with Joe Dwek, who headed a collection of firms that were involved in the distribution and management of flow-through limited partnerships (including, portfolio manager, Pathway Investment Counsel Inc.; fund manager, MineralFields Management Inc.; and, an exempt market dealer, Limited Market Dealer Inc.).
The commission alleged that its compliance reviews of the firms uncovered a number of deficiencies and compliance issues, including inadequate supervision of personal trading, inappropriate personal trading, and insufficient supervision.
In the settlement released last week, Dwek admitted that he acted contrary to the public interest. However, he also maintained that there is no evidence that his conduct caused investor losses, the firms received unqualified audit opinions on their work, that his expertise was in the tax treatment of investments not the securities industry, and that he co-operated with the OSC after the compliance deficiencies were discovered.
As part of the settlement, Dwek agreed to a $200,000 voluntary payment to the OSC, pay $25,000 in costs, and submit to a three-year registration ban, among other terms.
The firms are no longer in business. Their assets were acquired by Marquest Asset Management Inc. in October 2012.