VANCOUVER -- British Columbia's securities regulator will hold a hearing to seek disciplinary orders against a Burnaby man it alleges was not authorized to act as a financial advisor when he made trades for five clients resulting in more than half a million dollars in losses.
The British Columbia Securities Commission alleges that Shijun "Clark" Zhu took on the five investors as clients in 2016, despite not being registered to do so under the provincial Securities Act.
The agreements Zhu signed with the clients gave him discretionary authority over accounts worth a total of US $527,330, the BCSC says in a news release.
The commission says Zhu "made frequent trades" for the five investors, with the expectation of earning a portion of the profits from successful trading.
Zhu earned nearly US $30,000 in commissions from the trades he executed, despite losing "nearly all of the investors' funds" by 2018, the BCSC alleges.
While he was registered to sell scholarship plan securities in 2011 and mutual fund securities in 2011 and 2012, Zhu was not registered under the Securities Act in any capacity between 2016 and 2018, according to the BCSC.
The commission's allegations have not been proven. The commission will schedule a hearing date for the allegations in September.
