CIRO imposes over $15 million in sanctions but collects a fraction from barred advisors
Echelon Wealth Partners, now Ventum Financial, settled gatekeeping and supervision findings for a $500,000 fine and $1.7m in disgorgement, while Virtu Canada agreed to a $1.1m fine and $405,789 in disgorgement over order-exposure breaches under the Universal Market Integrity Rules.
Individual cases spanned discretionary trading and large-scale misappropriation.
The report details a permanent bar and a $1,509,879 fine against an advisor who misappropriated $460,126 from a 74-year-old client, and a separate permanent bar and $1,064,100 fine against an approved person who moved $354,700 from two elderly clients into fictitious accounts he controlled.
In one Quebec matter, an advisor who misappropriated roughly $204,000 CAD and US$15,000 from vulnerable or deceased clients received a permanent prohibition, a $100,000 fine, and $59,153 in disgorgement.
CIRO also flagged two initiatives that fall outside the reporting period.
