The units, Manulife Securities Inc and Manulife Securities Investment Services Inc, will pay clients C$11.7 million ($9.2 million) as part of the settlement, the OSC said on Thursday.

"OSC Staff do not allege, and have found no evidence of dishonest conduct by the Manulife Dealers," the regulator said in a statement.

Manulife, Canada's biggest insurer, will neither admit nor deny the accuracy of the OSC's allegations, the OSC added.

($1 = 1.2729 Canadian dollars)

(Reporting by Ahmed Farhatha in Bengaluru; Editing by Sai Sachin Ravikumar)