The Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) has settled with scholarship plan dealer, Children’s Education Funds Inc. (CEFI), over deficiencies it uncovered in its compliance systems.
The OSC said Tuesday it has approved a settlement agreement with CEFI, which admitted that its compliance system “did not meet reasonable compliance practices and that changes were required to strengthen its compliance system so as to better serve the public interest.”
Under the terms of the deal, the firm is reprimanded, and it must report to the OSC on its efforts to improve its compliance systems by June 3, 2015. It must report on whether the revised policies and procedures and internal controls it has adopted are being followed, are working appropriately, and are being administered and enforced by the firm.
According to the agreement, efforts to improve the firm’s compliance systems, particularly deficiencies in its KYC and suitability procedures, have been under way since the firm received the OSC’s report on its shortcomings in 2012.
The firm maintains that it immediately began to address the deficiencies, and that the initial changes were implemented prior to the OSC imposing conditions designed to improve those systems.
CEFI also notes that it has spent almost $700,000 to comply with those conditions, and that it has cooperated with the OSC.