TORONTO, June 7, 2018 /CNW/ - The Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) today approved a no-contest settlement agreement with IPC Securities Corporation and IPC Investment Corporation (the IPC Dealers) in relation to a matter that was reported to the OSC.

This settlement follows allegations by OSC Staff that there were inadequacies in the IPC Dealers' systems of controls and supervision, which resulted in certain clients paying, directly or indirectly, excess fees that were not detected or corrected in a timely manner. OSC Staff do not allege, and have found no evidence of, dishonest conduct by the IPC dealers.

While having neither admitted nor denied the accuracy of the facts and conclusions of OSC Staff, the IPC dealers have agreed to the settlement, and are compensating affected clients a total of $10,970,518  in respect of the control and supervision inadequacies.

"Registrants are expected to have appropriate controls and supervision in place to protect against excess fees," said Jeff Kehoe, Director of Enforcement at the OSC. "Regular reviews of a company's internal compliance systems support the integrity of our financial markets and foster investor confidence."

In addition to the compensation to clients, the IPC dealers have made a payment of $460,000 to the Commission to be designated for allocation or use by the Commission, plus a further payment of $30,000 to be allocated toward the costs of OSC Staff's investigation.

After reporting this matter, the IPC dealers provided prompt, detailed and candid co-operation to OSC Staff. The IPC Dealers have taken corrective action designed to address inadequacies and prevent the re-occurrence of similar events in the future.

To date, the OSC has approved eleven no-contest settlements, resulting in over $368 million in compensation to investors.

The mandate of the OSC is to provide protection to investors from unfair, improper or fraudulent practices, to foster fair and efficient capital markets and confidence in the capital markets, and to contribute to the stability of the financial system and the reduction of systemic risk.  Investors are urged to check the registration of any persons or company offering an investment opportunity and to review the OSC investor materials available at http://www.osc.gov.on.ca.

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SOURCE Ontario Securities Commission

View original content: http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/June2018/07/c6102.html