CIRO panel bans Toronto mutual fund rep over non-cooperation
Staff submitted a bill of costs for $52,000, an amount the panel found reasonable, and requested an award of between $15,000 and $20,000, noting that discounting a costs award from the full amount incurred is not unusual.
Discounts in other cases usually followed evidence of cooperation or efficient ameliorating conduct that allowed proceedings to conclude expeditiously, the panel wrote.
Because the misconduct at issue was non-cooperation itself, without any participation by Modi, the panel found he had not earned credit for a discount.
Staff gave two reasons for capping the award at $20,000, the reasons state: that respondents in future cases should not be deterred from defending allegations for fear of costs, and that a costs award of $52,000 set above a $50,000 fine might not look right to the general public as a matter of justice.
The panel accepted that submission and set the award at $20,000, principally because the prohibition order, the fine and the costs award together constituted adequate and sufficient deterrence.
