A hearing panel of the Law Society of British Columbia has ordered that Surrey lawyer Yvonne Hsu be suspended for professional misconduct. The panel ordered that Hsu’s three-month suspension commence August 1.
The hearing panel found that Hsu, in a finance and securities matter, committed professional misconduct by failing to perform legal services to the standard of a competent lawyer and by engaging in activities that encouraged dishonesty or fraud. Hsu admitted to preparing documents that did not conform with securities law and regulatory requirements and that purported to grant ownership of shares in certain companies to investors when the shares were worthless. Hsu allowed her trust account to be used to receive and disburse investor funds without making any or reasonable inquiries, including about the companies in which investors were purportedly receiving shares.
In determining the suitable disciplinary action, the panel considered that Hsu has no previous discipline history, and accepted that she was not aware of and did not intend to facilitate the fraud. Hsu admitted her misconduct, was cooperative with the investigation, and agreed that securities is an area of specialty in which she is not competent to practice.
In addition to imposing a suspension, the hearing panel ordered that Hsu be restricted from practising in the area of securities law. Written reasons for the hearing panel’s decision will be available in due course.
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For further information contact:
David Jordan
Communications Officer
604.443.5708
djordan@lsbc.org