Gavel and judgement on desk
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The Mutual Fund Dealers Association (MFDA) has published the final from of the revised MFDA Sanction Guidelines, the self-regulatory organization (SRO) announced Wednesday.

The revised guidelines, which take effect on Nov. 15, are designed to move away from recommending specific fine and penalty amounts towards a more principles-based approach, the MDA says in a bulletin.

They outline the factors that hearing panels should consider when setting sanctions in a particular case and the types of sanctions that are available under the MFDA rules.

The revised guidelines are intended to “promote consistency, fairness and transparency by providing a framework of applicable regulatory principles to guide the exercise of discretion in determining sanctions,” the MFDA says.

The SRO published the new sanctioning guidelines for public comment in May. In general, feedback on the idea of overhauling the sanction guidelines was positive, the MFDA says.

“The move to a principled-based approach to sanctioning is consistent with the prevailing practice of Canadian securities regulators and self-regulatory organizations,” the MFDA says.

“There is a significant body of decided cases which provide ample guidance to hearing panels with respect to the appropriate quantum of sanction. This will assist in ensuring consistency of fines, and it will allow stakeholders to benchmark the appropriateness of sanctions,” the SRO adds.