Earlier this year, the Ontario Capital Markets Tribunal (the Tribunal), accepted a joint settlement agreement[1] submitted by Staff of the Ontario Securities Commission (Staff) and defendant Raymond Pomroy (Pomroy), who had been accused of
Acceleration of Regulatory Scrutiny Towards Crypto Assets Trading Platforms
In the last year, Québec’s Financial Markets Administrative Tribunal (the TMF) has emphasized that crypto asset trading platforms must comply with all applicable securities and derivatives regulations. Otherwise, in accordance with the TMF’s mission to protect the public and…
Quebec’s Financial Markets Administrative Tribunal imposes exemplary penalties and sanctions on individuals who committed insider trading violations in the midst of a going-private transaction
In Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF) c. Gauthier,[1] Quebec’s Financial Markets Administrative Tribunal (TMF) ruled that Philippe Gauthier (Gauthier) and Frédéric Racine (Racine) committed insider trading violations on the basis…
The Supreme Court of Canada provides needed clarity on the discharge (or survival) of Securities Commission-imposed sanctions in personal bankruptcy
Between February 2020 and January 2022, we authored three blog posts about whether Securities Commission-imposed administrative monetary penalties (AMPs) and disgorgement orders should be discharged in personal bankruptcies.
Those prior blog posts are linked here: February 6, 2020…
In-House Insider Trading
In light of the unprecedented shift to a “working-from-home-economy” due to the pandemic, employees need to be extremely careful with work-related information that can accidentally be shared with their household. Confidential or even material non-public information can involuntarily be shared…
Insider trading: the U.S. SEC’s “shadow trading” doctrine and its potential impacts in Canada
On April 5, 2024, in the case of the SEC v. Panuwat (Panuwat),[1] the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the SEC) convinced a jury for the very first time of its “shadow trading” doctrine, according to…
Fibrek Quebec Court of Appeal Highlights Importance of Market Prices in Dissent Right Valuation Proceedings
On February 2, 2024, the Quebec Court of Appeal issued its unanimous decision reducing the fair value of the Fibrek shares by 20% and emphasizing the importance of market prices in determining fair value.
Overview of the main facts discussed …
Quebec Court Enforces Penal Provisions of Securities Act in connection with “Initial Coin Offering” of “PlexCoin”
Last month, the Court of Quebec (Criminal and Penal Division) rendered its decision on the culpability of three defendants involved in the initial coin offering of the cryptocurrency known as “PlexCoin”.
Dominic Lacroix (Lacroix), the head of the…
Supreme Court of Canada recognizes cross-border challenges of modern securities regulation: the “Real and Substantial Connection” test applied in Sharp v. Autorité des marchés financiers, 2023 SCC 29
In Sharp v. Autorité des marchés financiers, 2023 SCC 29, the Supreme Court of Canada recognized the transnational nature of modern securities regulation in holding there was a “real and substantial connection” between alleged perpetrators of a “pump-and-dump”…
Sauce for the Goose, Sauce for the Gander: Denial of Staff’s Adjournment Request in Valentine (Re), 2023 ONCMT 33
In reasons released October 5, 2023, the Capital Markets Tribunal summarily dismissed a motion by OSC Staff to adjourn a 15 day hearing on the merits approximately three weeks before it was scheduled to commence.
The adjournment was requested due…