Briefly: “Manulife Bank launches trust company” and more news

Manulife Bank of Canada has launched Manulife Trust Company to offer advisor-based products such as deposit accounts, GICs and investment savings accounts, coast to coast.

“All Manulife Trust products will be available through financial advisors because we firmly believe that everyone should have a financial plan and incorporate trust and banking products to meet their overall goals and objectives,” says Doug Conick, president and CEO, Manulife Bank of Canada and Manulife Trust Company.

The deposit accounts are available for registered and non-registered investments, including RRSPs, TFSAs, RRIFs, DPSPs, LIFs, LRIFs, PRIFs and RESPs.

Manulife Trust will also offer preferred rate mortgages across the country, except in Yukon, Nunavut, and the North West Territories.

– Steven Lamb

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IIROC announces settlement with Todd Robert Dean

A hearing panel of the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC) has accepted a settlement agreement, which include sanctions, between IIROC staff and Todd Robert Dean.

In the settlement agreement (read it here), Mr. Dean agreed to pay a $30,000 fine and $10,000 in costs for engaging in conduct unbecoming and detrimental to the public interest. Mr. Dean admits to forging client signatures and then misleading both his firm and regulatory staff when a client complained about the forgeries. Specifically, he breached IIROC Rule 29.1 when he:

(a) forged signatures of five of his clients on account documentation; and,

(b) misled his employer, TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. (TDW), and the Investment Dealers Association of Canada (now part of IIROC) by providing false information in response to an anonymous complaint regarding forged client signatures.

The violations occurred in 2005 and in February 2008, when Mr. Dean was a registered representative with TDW. On May 12, 2008, following an internal investigation, TDW dismissed Mr. Dean for forging client signatures. IIROC began its investigation into Mr. Dean’s conduct on July 10, 2008.

Mr. Dean was subsequently a Registered Representative at another IIROC-regulated firm, Mackie Research Capital Corporation, from May 2008 until July 2009. He has not been registered with IIROC since that time. The settlement precluded Mr. Dean from reapplying for registration with IIROC until July 31, 2010. As a condition of re-approval in any capacity, Mr. Dean must successfully complete the Conduct and Practices Handbook examination and be subject to a one-year period of strict supervision.

The written reasons for the hearing panel’s decision will be published when available.

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Desjardins Bursaries calls for candidates

Fondation Desjardins has put out a call for candidates for its 2010 Bursaries program, which is open to 18-to-30-year-olds seeking to improve their employability.

There are 80 bursaries available, each worth $750. They are available to young people in Quebec and Ontario.

The program was created 21 years ago and has awarded over $785,000 to 15,080 young people starting out in their careers.

– Steven Lamb

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Canadian Banks will meet Basel requirements

Canadian banks will be expected to meet new capital requirements proposed by global regulators by 2012, according to Philippe Hardy, an analyst at RBC Capital Markets.

The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision will require lenders to have common equity equal to at least 7% of assets, according to risk, including a 2.5% buffer.

According to Hardy, most the banks are already headed in the right direction: Bank of Montreal already has a capital ratio of about 8.6%; Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce is at 6.6%; Bank of Nova Scotia is at 5.8%; and Toronto-Dominion at 5%.

Ranked the world’s soundest for the past three years by the World Economic Forum, Canadian banks didn’t require any government bailout money during the financial crisis, and took only a fraction of the $1.3 trillion in global writedowns.

– Steven Lamb

(09/13/10)