This edition of the Enforcement Roundup summarizes findings and settlements from the BC Securities Commission (BCSC) and additions to the Investment Caution List.
BCSC Enforcement
BCSC Settlement Agreements
Ellen Clements, New Nadina Explorations Limited
Clements, the former CEO of a junior mining company New Nadina Explorations Limited, must pay $10,000 in a settlement with the BCSC for releasing technical information that was not prepared or approved by a qualified person.
As part of the settlement agreement, Clements is prohibited from acting as director or officer of any reporting issuer and must not engage in any promotional activities for two years, or until she completes a course on disclosure requirements for mineral projects, if she has not done so within two years.
Read the news release for more details.
Tavistock Capital Corp., Robert John Lawrence
Tavistock Capital Corp. and its director Lawrence have jointly paid $200,000 in a settlement with the BCSC for engaging in insider trading.
As part of the settlement, Tavistock and Lawrence are banned for three years from purchasing any securities or exchange contracts of any reporting issuers with which they are in a special relationship.
A hearing for the remaining respondents in the Amended Notice of Hearing – Justin Edgar Liu, Anthony Kevin Jackson, Cameron Robert Paddock and their related companies – will begin Sept. 11, 2023.
Read the news release for more details.
Haywood Securities Inc.
Registered investment dealer Haywood Securities Inc. must pay $50,000 in a settlement with the BCSC for violating a freeze order.
Haywood violated the freeze order by inadvertently allowing an account holder to make six purchases in one of his frozen accounts and four transfers between different frozen accounts in 2019 and 2020. One of those trades led to a loss of $931,553.40.
Read the news release for more details.
BCSC Findings
Stock Social, ImagineAR, Kyle Alexander Johnston
Stock Social and its CEO Johnston repeatedly violated the Securities Act by not adequately disclosing that it distributed paid promotional material on behalf of five issuers, a BCSC panel has ruled.
The panel also found that one of those issuers, a virtual reality production company called ImagineAR, violated the same part of the Act by failing to ensure the promotional material clearly and conspicuously disclosed that it was issued on its behalf.
Read the news release for more details.
Timothy Craig Durkin, SHH Holdings Limited
Durkin defrauded an investor of $1 million by lying about the ownership of the Sooke Harbour House hotel, a BCSC panel has ruled.
Read the news release for more details.
BCSC Early Intervention
Investment Caution List
The BCSC publishes an Investment Caution List to notify British Columbians about unqualified investments and unregistered activity originating from outside of the province that accept BC residents as clients.
Below are the January additions to the Investment Caution List.
Goldcorptrd.com
Goldcorptrd.com claims to be located in Vancouver, British Columbia, and it also claims to offer investment plans to trade in equity, fixed income, commodities, alternative investments, and mutual funds.
EverriseBrokers
EverriseBrokers claims to be located in Switzerland, and it also claims to offer accounts for trading in forex, cryptocurrencies, commodities, stocks, and indices.
Novobrokers
Novobrokers claims to be located in the United Kingdom, and it also claims to be a trading platform that offers accounts for trading in CFD, forex, stocks, and cryptocurrencies.
Main Bit
Main Bit claims to have offices in Switzerland, the United Kingdom and Canada, and it also claims to offer an online trading platform to let clients trade forex contracts, crypto assets, indexes, commodities, precious metals and stocks, where Main Bit acts as the broker.
CryptoWealthInvestments
CryptoWealthInvestments claims to be based in Brussels, Belgium, and claims to offer an online trading platform for forex, stocks, commodities, and indices.
Atomic Trade
Atomic Trade claims to be located in the United Kingdom and it also claims to offer accounts for trading in forex, stocks, commodities, and cryptocurrencies.
Global Invest Capital
Global Invest Capital claims to be located in Singapore, the United Kingdom, France, Australia and Canada. It also claims to offer accounts for trading in forex, stocks, indices, and cryptocurrencies.
Coinmama
Coinmama claims to be located in Ireland. It also claims to offer an online cryptocurrency trading platform.
Bitrenex Group
Bitrenex Group claims to be located in “Downtown Toronto.” It also claims to offer an online cryptocurrency trading platform.
Gatebits
Gatebits claims to provide an online platform for trading over-the-counter derivatives.
CoinPlatform
CoinPlatform claims to have offices in Montreal, Quebec. It also claims to offer an online cryptocurrency trading platform.
Report a Concern
If you have any concerns about a person or company offering an investment opportunity, please contact BCSC Contact Centre at 604-899-6854 or 1-800-373-6393 or by e-mail at [email protected]. You can also file a complaint or submit a tip anonymously using the BCSC’s online complaint form.
InvestRight.org is the BCSC’s investor education website. Subscribe to receive email updates from BCSC InvestRight.
