The Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC) has fined a Toronto broker $20,000 for shoddy paperwork.

Following a hearing on July 4, an IIROC hearing panel accepted a settlement with sanctions, between IIROC staff and Michael Ast.

Ast admitted that between 1991 and 2009, as a registered representative with the Toronto Brookfield Place Branch of CIBC Wood Gundy, he engaged in discretionary trading in 27 client accounts with clients’ consent, but without obtaining the necessary prior written authorization from the clients and his firm.

As penalty, Ast agreed to a $20,000 fine and two-month suspension from registration. He also agreed to pay $5,000 in costs/

IIROC formally initiated the investigation into Ast’s conduct in October 2010.

Ast continues to be a registered representative with the Brookfield Place branch of CIBC Wood Gundy.