A former Vancouver mutual funds dealer at WFG Securities has been permanently banned from the industry and fined a whopping $125,000 for conducting unauthorized real estate business involving a tax avoidance scheme.
Lucillia Sok Cheng Tan had worked for WFG from 2005 to 201,9 but from 2012 to 2019, she conducted “outside business activities” with her family company A.T. Property Investors Hub Inc. by selling investment properties in the United States to her securities clients.
As a licensed dealer, she was required to disclose such activity; however, she failed to do so and then was found to have been uncooperative with the Mutual Fund Dealers Association investigators.
The association issued the significant fine on October 5 following a hearing. Tan was also assessed costs of $10,000 with her permanent ban from all MFDA members.
In response to initial inquiries from WFG, Tan advised that her husband’s company was set up “so that he can invest in USA real estate himself without triggering estate taxes in the USA in the event he passed on. My role is to act as one of the authorized signatory in the bank. I can transfer funds from Canada to the USA for him if he is not in Canada physically.”
There is no suggestion the company committed wrongdoing.
Tan also did similar work for another U.S. real estate firm called Fairlock Partners when she engaged in capital raising. The association also named two other such firms she was named in corporate filings for.
At least four clients of WFG invested in real estate investments through or along with Fairflock Partners, which was a conflict of interest, or potential conflict of interest, stated the ruling from the association’s independent panel.
Tan was subsequently uncooperative with the association, the ruling concluded.
The association is the self-regulatory organization for Canadian mutual fund dealers, regulating the operations, standards of practice and business conduct of its member companies, such as WFG, and their approximately 80,000 dealers, such as Tan.
Tan joins 12 other WFG dealers who were banned in November 2018 for falsifying records to secure investments. They were fined, on average, $72,000.
Whether Tan, who left WFG in 2019, pays the fine is another matter.
New legislated collection powers were bestowed upon the association in June 2018.
Before 2018, the association had only collected 14% of issued fines across Canada. In 2018 collection rates rose to 48% then 17% in 2019 and 25% in 2020.
Last year, during the height of the coronavirus pandemic, there was a sharp drop in hearings — just 77 compared with 120 and 132 in each of the prior two years, respectively. Those 77 hearings resulted in an average fine of $43,514.
Association vice-president, Pacific region Jeff Mount said dealers who do not pay their fines cannot return to the industry. In Tan’s case, she is not allowed back whether she pays the fine or not.
Since the commencement of MFDA disciplinary activity in 2004, MFDA hearing panels have imposed total fines of just over $100 million.
Over the past five years, the association has levied $48.3 million in fines. The majority of those fines are assessed against individuals, not the firms they work for, which only received $3.9 million in fines since 2016 (all of which have been paid).
HALIFAX – A village of tiny homes is set to open next month in a Halifax suburb, the latest project by the provincial government to address homelessness.
Located in Lower Sackville, N.S., the tiny home community will house up to 34 people when the first 26 units open Nov. 4.
Another 35 people are scheduled to move in when construction on another 29 units should be complete in December, under a partnership between the province, the Halifax Regional Municipality, United Way Halifax, The Shaw Group and Dexter Construction.
The province invested $9.4 million to build the village and will contribute $935,000 annually for operating costs.
Residents have been chosen from a list of people experiencing homelessness maintained by the Affordable Housing Association of Nova Scotia.
They will pay rent that is tied to their income for a unit that is fully furnished with a private bathroom, shower and a kitchen equipped with a cooktop, small fridge and microwave.
The Atlantic Community Shelters Society will also provide support to residents, ranging from counselling and mental health supports to employment and educational services.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 24, 2024.
Housing affordability is a key issue in the provincial election campaign in British Columbia, particularly in major centres.
Here are some statistics about housing in B.C. from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation’s 2024 Rental Market Report, issued in January, and the B.C. Real Estate Association’s August 2024 report.
Average residential home price in B.C.: $938,500
Average price in greater Vancouver (2024 year to date): $1,304,438
Average price in greater Victoria (2024 year to date): $979,103
Average price in the Okanagan (2024 year to date): $748,015
Average two-bedroom purpose-built rental in Vancouver: $2,181
Average two-bedroom purpose-built rental in Victoria: $1,839
Average two-bedroom purpose-built rental in Canada: $1,359
Rental vacancy rate in Vancouver: 0.9 per cent
How much more do new renters in Vancouver pay compared with renters who have occupied their home for at least a year: 27 per cent
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 17, 2024.
VANCOUVER – Voters along the south coast of British Columbia who have not cast their ballots yet will have to contend with heavy rain and high winds from an incoming atmospheric river weather system on election day.
Environment Canada says the weather system will bring prolonged heavy rain to Metro Vancouver, the Sunshine Coast, Fraser Valley, Howe Sound, Whistler and Vancouver Island starting Friday.
The agency says strong winds with gusts up to 80 kilometres an hour will also develop on Saturday — the day thousands are expected to go to the polls across B.C. — in parts of Vancouver Island and Metro Vancouver.
Wednesday was the last day for advance voting, which started on Oct. 10.
More than 180,000 voters cast their votes Wednesday — the most ever on an advance voting day in B.C., beating the record set just days earlier on Oct. 10 of more than 170,000 votes.
Environment Canada says voters in the area of the atmospheric river can expect around 70 millimetres of precipitation generally and up to 100 millimetres along the coastal mountains, while parts of Vancouver Island could see as much as 200 millimetres of rainfall for the weekend.
An atmospheric river system in November 2021 created severe flooding and landslides that at one point severed most rail links between Vancouver’s port and the rest of Canada while inundating communities in the Fraser Valley and B.C. Interior.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 17, 2024.
