October 24, 2013 Decisions and Freeze and cease trade orders

On October 10, 2013, at the request of the Autorité des marchés financiers ("AMF"), the Bureau de décision et de révision ("Bureau") fined Groupe financier Lemieux inc. and Claude De Bellefeuille in his capacity as officer responsible for the firm a total of $27,500. The Bureau also ordered the firm to replace the responsible officer within 90 days of the decision and prohibited Claude De Bellefeuille from acting as responsible officer for three years.

The contraventions noted during an inspection conducted by the AMF relating to their insurance of persons activities show that the firm and Claude De Bellefeuille failed to fulfill their duty of supervision. The contraventions include the lack of a financial needs analysis, risk profile and financial information in all the client files examined, the failure to follow the required procedure for policy replacements, record-keeping not compliant with legal requirements and the lack of a commission register.

In its decision, the Bureau pointed out the duty of firms and their responsible officer to supervise the representatives and highlighted the importance of representatives completing the required financial needs analysis and risk profile as part of their work.

If the firm fails to comply with the decision within the specified time, the AMF could suspend the registration of Groupe Financier Lemieux inc. and the representatives attached to it, namely, Claude De Bellefeuille and Michael Thisdale.