The Ontario Divisional Court has upheld an OSC decision to re-review an IIROC Panel decision and impose a suspension on a Respondent for two years. This penalty was in addition to a $50,000 penalty already imposed on the Respondent by IIROC (summarized on our blog here).
The Respondent asked the Court to set aside the Commission's decision or remit it back for reconsideration.
The Divisional Court noted that while the Commission, as a matter of practice, generally accords deference to SRO's, in this instance, the Commission determined that it should intervene and that a suspension was appropriate. The Commission did so on the basis that the IIROC Panel had erred in law and had a perception of the public interest which conflicted with the Commission.
The Divisional Court held that the two-year suspension fell within the range of possible acceptable outcomes, having regard to similar cases where suspensions imposed.
The appellant also argued that she was denied procedural fairness as the Commission did not allow her to make submissions on the interplay between a suspension and sanctions but the Divisional Court denied that argument as it was clear that IIROC Staff was seeking a two-year suspension in addition to the sanctions imposed by the IIROC Panel.
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