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by Mike Caswell

The B.C. Securities Commission has imposed an eight-year ban on Blok Technologies Inc., a former Canadian Securities Exchange listing that misled investors about a $5.4-million financing. The BCSC said that the company failed to disclose that it would not retain most of the money from the financing. It raised the $5.4-million and then paid out $4.4-million to consultants in a process that amounted to a "cheque swap," the BCSC determined.

The penalties for Blok are contained in an administrative decision that the BCSC released on Friday, May 17. The order bars the company from engaging in promotional activities for eight years. The company is also banned from trading in or purchasing securities (a term that is usually used applied to individuals or private entities). The BCSC did not impose any fine, noting the company's inability to pay. The penalties are mostly symbolic, as the company is in the process of being dissolved.

Friday's decision arises from a financing that Blok arranged in 2018, when it was one of several companies promoting blockchain technology. The company said that it had a deal to use blockchain to handle supply chain management in the cannabis industry. Blok had never generated any revenue, and was dependent on raising money to develop its business.

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