Regulator says registered representative violated rules on confidentiality and integrity
A former registered representative and head of sales and trading with Stifel Nicolaus Canada Inc. has been banned for six months and fined $75,000 for disclosing potentially confidential information with a hedge fund client.
A Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization hearing panel earlier this month determined that Robert Russell Weir’s conduct was contrary to investment dealer rules when he shared information about proposed block trade transactions involving two publicly listed issuers.
The hedge fund client he told the information to was able to use these insights in short sales to yield potential profits of $118,945 for one transaction and $258,561 for the other. Weir did not know that these short sales were taking place.
The Settlement Agreement between CIRO and Weir notes that the violations took place in April and May 2020 while Weir was with Stifel (he was a registered representative with the firm from December 2019 to December 2020). He had been registered with other dealer members since 2020 but has not been registered since leaving Stifel.
As well as the financial penalty and ban, Weir agreed to a requirement to complete the Conduct and Practices Handbook Course (or equivalent) prior to approval and must pay costs of $5,000. He also agreed not to make statements inconsistent with the settlement and may face further enforcement action if he fails to comply with any of the terms of the settlement agreement.
Other recent CIRO enforcements involve disregard of ethics, stealth advising, borrowing money from a client, and falsified signatures.
