MFDA bans, fines former rep $70K for falsifying signatures

A former mutual fund dealing representative was banned and fined $70,000 for falsifying client signatures and using pre-signed account forms, and for not cooperating with an investigation, an MFDA hearing panel said Wednesday.

The hearing panel found that Allan Douglas Rombough, who was registered in Ontario with Olympian Financial Inc. until 2016, falsified client signatures and used pre-signed account forms.

From 2009 to 2014, the panel found that Rombough photocopied signature pages from KYC forms that had been signed by clients and re-used these pages to complete an additional 24 KYC forms for nine clients.

Rombough also submitted six pre-signed account forms for four clients from 2007 to 2012, the panel found. Four were switch/redemption forms and two were KYC forms.

He was fined $10,000 based on those allegations and $60,000 for not cooperating with the MFDA’s investigation.

Because Rombough didn’t cooperate, MFDA staff was “unable to determine the full nature and extent” of his conduct, including whether he had discussed the information on the KYC forms with the clients prior to submitting them for processing, the notice of hearing said.

He is permanently banned from securities-related activity with any MFDA member.

The hearing panel also ordered Rombough to pay $5,000 for costs.

The notice of hearing can be read here.

Staff

The staff of Advisor.ca have been covering news for financial advisors since 1998.