Rules. No member of the Hearing Panel shall participate in any proceeding in which the member or any member of their immediate family or firm or employer has any financial or other interest, or where such participation would involve a conflict of interest.
4.1.4
The Hearing Panel shall commence proceedings concerning a disciplinary petition by serving the disciplinary petition on the Respondent by certified mail to the Respondent's last known address and issuing a scheduling order setting the following dates:
a. An answer to the disciplinary petition shall be filed with IMCA staff no later than thirty (30) days after the mailing date of the disciplinary petition to Respondent. The answer shall respond to the allegations set forth in the disciplinary petition and either request or waive the right to participate in a hearing before the Hearing Panel.
b. During the period beginning thirty (30) days after the mailing date of the disciplinary petition to Respondent and ending ninety (90) days thereafter, the Hearing Panel may request that the Respondent produce documents concerning the alleged infraction and any facts, claims, or defenses asserted in the answer. The Respondent may request IMCA to produce its records relating to the Respondent as well as any documents that support the allegations contained in the disciplinary petition (Document Production Period). Any party who fails to produce documents requested by the other party during the Document Production Period shall not be permitted to use said documents for any purpose in proceedings governed by these Rules.
c. The hearing date shall be set no later than ninety (90) days after the last day of the Document Production Period.
4.2 Failure to Respond to the Petition
Failure to respond to the disciplinary petition within the period provided in paragraph 4.1.4 shall be deemed a default by the Respondent. Upon entry of an order of default by the Hearing Panel, the Respondent's license to use his or her IMCA Designation shall be immediately terminated and, in the case of a Candidate, the Respondent shall be terminated from the appropriate IMCA program. A notice of termination shall be sent to Respondent via certified mail.
A Licensee must immediately cease all use of the IMCA Designation upon receipt of the notice of termination or other notification of termination from IMCA. Upon good cause shown at any time, a Respondent may move to set aside the default.
4.3 Hearing
A Respondent who has filed an answer to a petition shall be entitled to a hearing before the Hearing Panel and may personally, or through an attorney (at Respondent's own expense), respond to the allegations contained in the disciplinary petition. The hearing shall take place at the location specified by the Hearing Panel, via video conference at Respondent's sole expense, or via teleconference. For the purposes of preservation of testimony, the proceedings may be recorded by IMCA staff, in which case the recording of the proceedings will be maintained at IMCA offices.
At the hearing, the Respondent may present documentary evidence and testimony of witnesses in support of Respondent's answer; provided, however, that to be admissible, all such documentary evidence and the substance of all such witness testimony must have been disclosed to the Hearing Panel during the Document Production Period. The Hearing Panel shall set its own rules regarding the conduct of the hearing and the admission of evidence. Hearings may be conducted before a court reporter at the Respondent's option and cost, but if the Respondent intends to use a court reporter, Respondent shall notify IMCA of said intent and IMCA shall procure the court reporter. Respondent shall be responsible to pay for all costs associated with said court reporter, including, without limitation, production of a copy of the transcript for IMCA. All testimony presented shall be under oath.
Within sixty (60) days of the last day of the hearing, the Hearing Panel shall issue a report of its findings of fact and conclusions with respect to the allegations contained in the disciplinary petition, together with a proposed order setting forth the action recommended to the PRB.
The PRB shall review the Hearing Panel's report and proposed order and issue a final order within thirty (30) days after receiving the report and proposed order. The PRB's final order shall be sent to Respondent by certified mail within ten (10) business days of issuance.
In the event that the PRB finds that the Hearing Panel has abused its discretion or has made clearly erroneous findings of fact, the PRB may dismiss the disciplinary petition or remand it with instructions to the Hearing Panel to conduct further fact-finding or take other action consistent with the direction of the PRB.
4.4 Remedial Action
The PRB has discretion to take any and/or all of the following action(s) in the event that a preponderance of the evidence submitted at the hearing establishes that grounds for disciplinary action exist:
a. Private censure. A private censure is a letter from the PRB to the Respondent advising the Respondent the PRB has determined private censure is the appropriate discipline. The fact of private censure shall not be made public. Other than through publication of anonymous decisions, the facts and circumstances supporting the private censure shall also not be made public. Although not publicly disseminated, the private censure letter shall be a permanent portion of Respondent's record, and a copy of the private censure letter shall be maintained in the Respondent's file at IMCA.
b. Public censure. The fact of and the facts and circumstances supporting the public censure shall be made public in any venues IMCA deems appropriate, including, but not limited to, IMCA's website, media alerts, and/or notification to FINRA or other financial services organizations and may be made available to others upon request.
c. Suspension of the right to use the IMCA Designation for a specific period of time. The fact of and the facts and circumstances supporting the suspension shall be made public in any venues IMCA deems appropriate, including, but not limited, to IMCA's website, media alerts, and/or notification to FINRA or other financial services organizations and may be made available to others upon request.
d. Termination of the right to use the IMCA Designation. The fact of and the facts and circumstances supporting the termination shall be made public in any venues IMCA deems appropriate, including, but not limited to, IMCA's website, media alerts, and/or notification to FINRA or other financial services organizations and may be made available to others upon request.
e. Other action determined to be appropriate to remedy the conduct.
All remedial action, including private censures, shall be a permanent portion of the Respondent's record and shall be maintained in the Respondent's file at IMCA.
ARTICLE 5: APPEALS
A final order of the PRB is subject to review by the IMCA Appeals Board. Any discipline imposed by the PRB is stayed during the pendency of a timely filed appeal.
An appeal from a final order of the PRB must be filed within sixty (60) days of the date of the order. In the event a timely appeal is not filed, the PRB order shall become final and nonappealable, and any discipline ordered by the PRB shall apply from the date the order becomes final and nonappealable.
The IMCA Appeals Board will review an appeal within sixty (60) days after receipt of the appeal. The IMCA Appeals Board shall only review the record of the hearing and shall not conduct any de novo review of the matter. The decision of the IMCA Appeals Board is final and shall be transmitted to Respondent via certified mail within thirty (30) days after the date on which the IMCA Appeals Board makes its decision. Any discipline ordered by the PRB and/or the IMCA Appeals Board after an appeal shall apply from the date the PRB's or IMCA Appeals Board's decision becomes final and nonappealable.
A Respondent's failure to comply with any final and nonappealable orders of the PRB and/or the IMCA Appeals Board may be grounds for additional discipline, which may include the suspension or termination of the Respondent's IMCA Designation as provided in Rule 4.4.
ARTICLE 6: REPORTABLE EVENTS
6.1
Upon receipt of written notification by the Licensee or Candidate of being a defendant or respondent in any self-regulatory organization (e.g., FINRA), government agency, criminal, and/or civil complaint, investigation, mediation,