Statement of Allegations: In the Matter of Buckingham Securities Corporation et al

IN THE MATTER OF THE SECURITIES ACT

R.S.O. 1990, c.S.5, AS AMENDED

AND

BUCKINGHAM SECURITIES CORPORATION,

DAVID BROMBERG, NORMAN FRYDRYCH, LLOYD BRUCE AND

MILLER BERNSTEIN & PARTNERS LLP (formerly known as

Miller Bernstein & Partners)

STATEMENT OF ALLEGATIONS OF STAFF

OF THE ONTARIO SECURITIES COMMISSION

Further to a Notice of Hearing dated April 15, 2004, Staff of the Ontario Securities Commission ("Staff") make the following allegations:

Background

The Respondents

1. Buckingham Securities Corporation ("Buckingham") is incorporated pursuant to the laws of Ontario. Buckingham was registered under Ontario securities law as a securities dealer during the period from March 17, 1997 to July 6, 2001 (the "Material Time"). Buckingham commenced trading for clients in or about April 1997.

2. The registration of Buckingham was suspended on July 6, 2001 by Temporary Order (the "Temporary Order") made by the Commission, and extended by Order of the Commission dated July 20, 2001 (the "Order"). BDO Dunwoody Limited was appointed Receiver and Manager of the assets and undertaking of Buckingham by Order of the Honourable Madame Justice Swinton dated July 26, 2001.

3. David Bromberg ("Bromberg") was one of the principals of Buckingham since its incorporation in August in 1996. Bromberg was registered pursuant to section 26 of the Securities Act (Ontario) (the "Act") as a salesperson of Buckingham from March 17, 1997 to November 3, 1997, and thereafter as a salesperson and director from November 3, 1997 to July 6, 2001. During the Material Time, Bromberg acted as president, although he was not registered as an officer of Buckingham under Ontario securities law. Bromberg's registration as a salesperson has been suspended since July 6, 2001. By the terms of the Commission's Temporary Order and Order referred to above, Bromberg has been prohibited from trading in securities since July 6, 2001.

4. Norman Frydrych ("Frydrych") was one of the principals of Buckingham since its incorporation in August 1996. Frydrych was registered pursuant to section 26 of the Act as a salesperson of Buckingham commencing on August 6, 1997. Frydrych's registration was subject to terms and conditions for a period of two years. During the Material Time, Frydrych acted as an officer of Buckingham. Frydrych's registration as a salesperson has been suspended since July 6, 2001.

5. Lloyd Hutchinson Ebenezer Bruce ("Bruce") was registered with Buckingham pursuant to section 26 as the sole officer of Buckingham from January 26, 1998 to July 6, 2001. Bruce was the president, trading officer and compliance officer of Buckingham. As the compliance officer, Bruce was responsible for discharging the obligations of Buckingham under Ontario securities law. Bruce's registration as an officer of Buckingham has been suspended since July 6, 2001. By the terms of the Commission's Temporary Order and Order referred to above, Bruce has been prohibited from trading in securities since July 6, 2001.

6. Miller Bernstein & Partners LLP (formerly known as Miller Bernstein & Partners) ("Miller Bernstein") is a firm of chartered accountants with an office at Toronto. In December 1996, Buckingham appointed Miller Bernstein as the firm's auditor. As the auditor appointed by Buckingham, Miller Bernstein was required under section 21.10(2) of the Act to make an examination of the annual financial statements and other regulatory filings of Buckingham, in accordance with generally accepted auditing standards, and to prepare a report on the financial affairs of Buckingham in accordance with professional reporting standards.

Buckingham's Trading Activities - Accounts held with Executing Brokers

7. Buckingham was not a member of the Investment Dealers Association of Canada ("IDA") or any other self-regulatory organization ("SRO"). During the Material Time, Buckingham engaged in trading on an agency basis for clients. Buckingham had approximately 2400 client cash, margin or RRSP accounts (1000 of which were active accounts at the time of the suspension of Buckingham's operations in July 2001). Buckingham's clients purchased securities through Buckingham salespeople for cash or on margin. Client orders were executed through various IDA member firms.

8. During the Material Time, Buckingham entered into executing broker arrangements with various firms including Canaccord Capital Corporation ("Canaccord") and W.D. Latimer Co. Ltd. ("Latimer") to process Buckingham's client orders.

9. From approximately May 1997 to July 2000, Buckingham conducted the majority of its trading for its clients using cash or margin accounts at Canaccord (the "Canaccord Accounts"). The Canaccord Accounts were held in the name of Buckingham and were operated as omnibus accounts. These accounts held clients' securities in aggregate, and did not identify individual Buckingham client names and the corresponding security positions of individual clients.

10. In April 2000, Canaccord notified Buckingham that it intended to close the Canaccord Accounts because of its concerns with the form and operation of the Canaccord Accounts.

11. On or about July 28, 2000, Buckingham transferred the securities it held at Canaccord to cash and margin accounts at Latimer. The accounts held in the name of Buckingham at Latimer operated as omnibus accounts, in the same manner as described in paragraph 9 above.

12. During the Material Time, Latimer and Buckingham entered into an agreement in respect of the Latimer Accounts, which provided, in part:

[T]hat all securities and credit balances held by LATIMER for the Customer's account shall be subject to a general lien for any and all indebtedness to LATIMER howsoever arising and in whatever account appearing, including any liability arising by reason of any guarantee by the Customer of the account or of any other person; that LATIMER is authorized hereby to sell, purchase, pledge, or repledge any or all such securities without notice of advertisement to satisfy this lien, and that LATIMER may at any time without notice whenever LATIMER carries more than one account for the Customer enter credit or debit balances, whether in respect of securities or money, to any of such accounts and make such adjustments between such accounts as LATIMER may in its sole discretion deem fit; and that any reference to the Customer's account in this clause shall include any account in which the Customer has an interest whether jointly or otherwise.

13. The trades processed by Buckingham through the Canaccord, Latimer and other brokerage accounts involved both securities that had been fully paid and securities purchased on margin by Buckingham's clients. As described below, it was Buckingham's responsibility to ensure that the securities owned by clients, including excess margin securities, were properly segregated, and that such securities were not available for pledging as collateral security for any indebtedness owing by Buckingham to Latimer, or other brokers who had similar executing broker arrangements with Buckingham.

Buckingham's Failure to Segregate Clients' Securities

14. Section 117 of the Regulation to the Act requires that securities held by a registrant for a client that are unencumbered and that are either fully paid for or are excess margin securities shall be (a) segregated and identified as being held in trust for the client; and (b) described as being held in segregation on the registrant's security position record, client ledger and statement of account.

15. During the Material Time, Buckingham failed to segregate fully paid or excess margin securities owned by its clients and held in Buckingham's omnibus accounts with other brokerage firms, as outlined above, contrary to the requirements contained in section 117 of Regulation to the Act.

16. Buckingham, in failing to comply with the segregation requirements contained in section 117 of the Regulation to the Act, put client assets at risk (ie. client assets were available to be used as collateral in support of Buckingham's indebtedness to brokerage firms.) In the ongoing receivership proceeding, two firms have asserted a security interest or lien over securities held in the Buckingham accounts. As a consequence of Buckingham's failure to segregate, many of Buckingham's clients may suffer financial losses should it be determined in the receivership proceeding that the secured claims of the two brokers include fully-paid-for client securities improperly pledged by Buckingham. Bromberg, Bruce and Frydrych authorized, permitted or acquiesced in Buckingham's breach of the requirements contained in section 117 of the Regulation to the Act.

Buckingham's Failure to Maintain Adequate Capital

17. All registrants must maintain adequate capital at all times in accordance with section 107 of the Regulation to the Act. As set out in paragraph 23 below, Buckingham had a deficiency of net free capital in excess of $9,000,000 for its financial year ending March 31, 1999, and a deficiency of net free capital in excess of $27,500,000 for its financial year ending March 31, 2000. Buckingham failed to report such information in the audited financial Form 9 reports it was required to file under Ontario securities law, and instead reported excess net free capital which was misleading or untrue, as further described in paragraph 23 below.

18. In June 2001, during a compliance review conducted by Commission Staff in respect of the operations of Buckingham, Staff identified several areas of concern, including Buckingham's significant capital deficiency. As set out in paragraph 2 above, Buckingham's registration was suspended on July 6, 2001 and BDO Dunwoody was appointed receiver and manager of Buckingham shortly thereafter.

19. During the Material Time, Buckingham contravened the requirement contained in section 107 of the Regulation to the Act to maintain adequate capital at all times. Bromberg, Bruce and Frydrych authorized, permitted or acquiesced in Buckingham's contravention of section 107 of the Regulation to the Act.

Failure to Maintain Books and Records

20. During the Material Time, Buckingham failed to keep necessary records required under Ontario securities law, contrary to section 113 of the Regulation to the Act. In particular, during the Material Time, Buckingham failed to prepare documents on a monthly basis to record reasonable calculations of minimum free capital, adjusted liabilities and capital required by the firm in order to ensure that Buckingham complied with its capital requirements pursuant to section 107 of the Regulation to the Act. Bromberg, Bruce and Frydrych authorized, permitted or acquiesced in Buckingham's breach of the requirement contained in section 113 of the Regulation to the Act.

Misleading or Untrue Statements in 1999 and 2000 Form 9 Reports

21. Buckingham prepared Form 9 reports for the financial years ending March 31, 1999 and March 31, 2000 (hereafter, referred to as the "1999 Form 9 Report" and the "2000 Form 9 Report"). Section 141 of the Regulation to the Act requires a securities dealer, who is not a member of an SRO, to deliver to the Commission within 90 days after the end of each financial year a report prepared in accordance with Form 9. The Form 9 reports, among other things, record the capital position and requirements of the securities dealer, and confirm the segregation of clients' fully paid and excess margin securities. Section 144 of the Regulation to the Act requires that the Form 9 Reports be audited by an auditor appointed by the securities dealer, in accordance with generally accepted auditing standards and the audit requirements published by the Commission.

22. The 1999 and 2000 Form 9 Reports were submitted to the Commission. Bruce and Bromberg each signed the Certificate of Partners or Directors on behalf of Buckingham for the 1999 and 2000 Form 9 Reports, certifying, among other things, that:

1. the financial statements and other information presented fairly the financial position of Buckingham; and
2. information stated in the Certificate was true and correct, including the statement that Buckingham promptly segregated all clients' free securities.

23. Buckingham, for the fiscal years ending March 31, 1999 and March 31, 2000, made statements in the 1999 and 2000 Form 9 Reports required to be filed or furnished under Ontario securities law that, in a material respect and at the time and in the light of the circumstances under which they were made, were misleading or untrue or did not state a fact that was required to be stated or that was necessary to make the statements not misleading, specifically;

1. a. the 1999 Statement of Assets and Liabilities and Capital stated that the amount of Buckingham's total liabilities (excluding subordinated loans) was $4,402,608 when such amount was in excess of $12,000,000;
   
   b. the 1999 Statement of Net Free Capital stated that Buckingham had excess net free capital, before taking into account of capital requirements, in the amount of $521,766, when Buckingham had a deficiency of net free capital in excess of $8,000,000;
   
   c. the 1999 Statement of Adjusted Liabilities stated that the amount of Buckingham's adjusted liabilities was $3,527,784, when the amount was in excess of $11,500,000;
   
   d. the 1999 Statement of Minimum Free Capital stated that Buckingham had excess net free capital, after deducting capital requirements in the amount of $179,544, when Buckingham had a deficiency of net free capital in excess of $9,000,000;
   
   e. the 1999 Certificate of Partners or Directors stated that Buckingham properly segregated all clients' free securities, when Buckingham was not segregating clients' free securities.
2. a. the 2000 Statements of Assets and Liabilities and Capital stated that the amount of Buckingham's total liabilities (excluding subordinated loans) was $11,085,049, when such amount was in excess of $36,000,000;
   
   b. the 2000 Statement of Net Free Capital stated that Buckingham had excess net free capital, before taking into account of capital requirements, in the amount of $738,675, when Buckingham had a deficiency of net free capital in excess of $25,500,000;
   
   c. the 2000 Statement of Adjusted Liabilities stated that the amount of Buckingham's adjusted liabilities was $6,914,102, when such amount was in excess of $31,000,000;
   
   d. the 2000 Statement of Minimum Free Capital stated that Buckingham had excess net free capital, after deducting capital requirements, in the amount of $144,778, when Buckingham had a deficiency of net free capital in excess of $27,500,000;
   
   e. the 2000 Certificate of Partners or Directors stated that Buckingham had properly segregated all clients' free securities, when Buckingham was not segregating clients' free securities.

24. Bruce, Bromberg and Frydrych, for the fiscal years ending March 31, 1999 and March 31, 2000, authorized permitted or acquiesced in Buckingham making statements in Buckingham's 1999 and 2000 Form 9 Reports required to be filed or furnished under Ontario securities law that, in a material respect and at the time and in the light of the circumstances under which they were made, were misleading or untrue or did not state a fact that was required to be stated or that was necessary to make the statements not misleading.

Misleading or Untrue Statements in Audit Reports

25. Miller Bernstein did not obtain sufficient, appropriate audit evidence to determine the segregation of client assets, and did not formulate appropriate procedures to review margin accounts held by clients of Buckingham to support the opinions expressed by it in the audit opinions contained in the 1999 and 2000 Form 9 Reports.

26. Miller Bernstein, in its audit report addressed to the Ontario Securities Commission in each of the 1999 and 2000 Form 9 Reports, stated that it had examined the financial statements and other financial information prepared by Buckingham contained within the Reports. In relation to its examination of such financial statements and information for each of the financial years ending March 31, 1999 and March 31, 2000, Miller Bernstein expressed its opinion as follows:

Our examination was made in accordance with generally accepted auditing standards and accordingly included such tests and other procedures as we considered necessary in the circumstances, including the audit procedures prescribed by the Ontario Securities Commission.

In our opinion,

1. the statement of assets and liabilities presents fairly the financial position of the firm as at [March 31, 1999/March 31, 2000] in the form required under the Regulation to The Securities Act, 1978 in accordance with the basis of accounting disclosed in Note 1 applied on a basis consistent with that of the preceding year; and
2. the statements of net free capital, adjusted liabilities, minimum free capital and statement of segregation requirements and funds on deposit in segregation as at [March 31, 1999/March 31, 2000] are presented in accordance with applicable instructions in the Regulation under The Securities Act, 1978.

...

The additional information set out in Part II, schedules 1 to 18 and the answers contained in questions 5 and 6 on the certificate of partners or directors have been subjected to the tests and other auditing procedures applied in the examination of the financial statements A to E in Part I and schedule 19 in Part II, and in our opinion, are fairly stated in all respects material in relation to these financial statements taken as a whole.

27. Having regard to the misleading or untrue statements contained in the Form 9 Reports, described in paragraph 23 above, Miller Bernstein's conduct was contrary to the public interest in that, for the fiscal years ending March 31, 1999 and March 31, 2000, Miller Bernstein stated, in its opinions contained in Buckingham's 1999 and 2000 Form 9 Reports, that its examination of Buckingham's financial statements and other financial information was made in accordance with generally accepted auditing standards. Such statements made by Miller Bernstein were in a material respect and at the time and in the light of the circumstances under which they were made, misleading or untrue, or did not state a fact that was required to be stated or that was necessary to make the statements not misleading.

Breach of Requirement to File Form 9 (Financial Questionnaire and Report)

28. Section 142 of the Regulation to the Act provides that every securities dealer, that is not a member of an SRO, must deliver to the Commission within ninety days after the end of its financial year a report prepared in accordance with Form 9 (Financial Questionnaire and Report).

29. Buckingham's Form 9 report for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2001 was due on June 30, 2001. Staff received a request for an extension to file the 2001 Form 9 on the basis that Buckingham's auditor was not prepared to certify the Form 9. By letter dated June 29, 2001 Bruce, on behalf of Buckingham, advised Staff that its auditor "... is uncomfortable certifying the Form 9 at this time given the capital deficiency that has been brought to our attention recently during the OSC's Compliance Audit. Our auditor performed this year's audit in the same manner as in previous years, and did not reflect any capital deductions or deficiencies caused by under margin accounts or the segregation of cash and securities. In effect, a Form 9 based on the current financial statements prepared by our Auditor would be incorrect."

30. Buckingham failed to comply with the requirement contained in section 142 of the Regulation to the Act to file the required audited form 9 for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2001.

Conduct Contrary to the Public Interest

31. It is the position of Staff that the conduct engaged in by the respondents constitutes conduct contrary to the public interest in that:

1. During the Material Time, Buckingham failed to segregate fully paid or excess margin securities owned by its clients contrary to the requirements contained in section 117 of the Regulation to the Act.
2. During the Material Time, Buckingham failed to maintain adequate capital at all times contrary to the requirements of section 107 of the Regulation to the Act.
3. During the Material Time, Buckingham failed to keep such books and records required under section 113 of the Regulation to the Act, and in particular, failed to maintain on a monthly basis a record of a reasonable calculation of minimum free capital, adjusted liabilities, and capital required by the firm to meet its capital requirements.
4. Buckingham failed to comply with the requirement contained in section 142 of the Regulation to the Act to deliver the required audited Form 9 Report for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2001;
5. During the Material Time, Bruce, Bromberg and Frydrych authorized, permitted or acquiesced in Buckingham's violations of the requirements of Ontario securities law, described in subparagraphs (a), (b), (c) and (d) above.
6. Buckingham, for the fiscal years ending March 31, 1999 and March 31, 2000, made statements in the 1999 and 2000 Form 9 Reports required to be filed or furnished under Ontario securities law that, in a material respect and at the time and in the light of the circumstances under which they were made, were misleading or untrue or did not state a fact that was required to be stated or that was necessary to make the statements not misleading;
7. Bruce, Bromberg and Frydrych, for the fiscal years ending March 31, 1999 and March 31, 2000, authorized permitted or acquiesced in Buckingham making statements in Buckingham's 1999 and 2000 Form 9 Reports required to be filed or furnished under Ontario securities law that, in a material respect and at the time and in the light of the circumstances under which they were made, were misleading or untrue or did not state a fact that was required to be stated or that was necessary to make the statements not misleading; and
8. Miller Bernstein's conduct was contrary to the public interest in that, for the fiscal years ending March 31, 1999 and March 31, 2000, Miller Bernstein stated, in its opinions contained in Buckingham's 1999 and 2000 Form 9 Reports, that its examination of Buckingham's financial statements and other financial information was made in accordance with generally accepted auditing standards. Such statements made by Miller Bernstein were in a material respect and at the time and in the light of the circumstances under which they were made, misleading or untrue, or did not state a fact that was required to be stated or that was necessary to make the statements not misleading.

32. Staff reserves the right to make such other allegations as Staff may advise and the Commission may permit.

Dated at Toronto this 15th day of April, 2004