Blaine Patrick Arnold has been fined $35,000 and given a six-month suspension from supervisory roles by CIRO
Canada’s investment industry regulator has sanctioned a manager who failed to stop substantial use of pre-signed forms by a team in his branch.
Blaine Patrick Arnold was branch manager of Scotia Capital’s Saskatoon branch where the Hunter Financial Group financial team (“the Hunter Group”) was based.
The Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization (CIRO) found that Arnold had failed to fulfil his supervisory responsibilities when, between January 2012 and March 2021, more than 3,000 pre-signed forms were used by the Hunter Group.
These forms were a mix of those that were signed by members of the Hunter Group and those which were only signed by clients while being otherwise blank or missing key pieces of information. Most of the pre-signed forms were not dated.
“The Pre-Signed forms that were seized from the Hunter Group were being stored for later use, at which time the pertinent information could be entered. They were being stored in banker boxes which were kept in an empty cubicle,” the regulator stated in a settlement agreement with Arnold, who signed 599 of the forms in his capacity as branch manager.
The collection, possession, and use of pre-signed forms is contrary to Dealer Member Rule 38.4.
Arnold was informed of the use of pre-signed forms in February 2021 and reported the matter to Scotia Capital’s compliance team.
The settlement agreement between Arnold and CIRO’s Enforcement staff was accepted by a hearing panel of the Investment Dealer Division of the regulator on June 6, 2023.
Arnold agreed to the following:
- a six-month suspension from registration in a supervisory capacity;
- a fine in the amount of $35,000; and
- a requirement to successfully rewrite the Supervisors Course exam before acting in a supervisory capacity.
He also has to pay costs of $5,000. He has not worked in a registered capacity with a Dealer Member of a New SRO regulated firm since February 2021.
Hunter Group
The Hunter Group was founded by Bart Hunter who left the company in February 2021 and is a self-employed Business Coaching Specialist according to his LinkedIn profile.
The group grew to four advisors with around 869 clients.
She acknowledged that those violations constituted a failure to fulfil her duties relating to the correct execution of client papers, and agreed to pay a fine of $50,000 and $5,000 in IIROC expenses.
