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Globe says BCSC pleads with feds: Close "escape hatch"

2024-08-19 09:24 ET - In the News

Also In the News (C-*OSC) Ontario Securities Commission

The Globe and Mail reports in its Monday edition that dozens of financial criminals have managed to escape paying tens of millions of dollars in regulatory penalties by declaring bankruptcy. The Globe's Jameson Berkow writes that when the Supreme Court of Canada ruled last month that criminals can use the bankruptcy process to erase punitive fines imposed by securities regulators, the case was about a single pair of pump-and-dump scammers. Regulators and investor advocates have renewed calls for federal lawmakers to close what the B.C. Securities Commission calls an "escape hatch." Ottawa, meanwhile, appears to be in no hurry to make the legislative changes required to close that hatch. Since 2001, more than 40 individuals and companies, owing a total of roughly $80-million to the BCSC, have had their fines wiped out through the bankruptcy process, according to BCSC data. While the Ontario Securities Commission does not actively maintain similar data on Canada's single largest market, the OSC said the regulator is aware of more than 40 people and companies with outstanding fines who have been involved in bankruptcy proceedings since 2011. The Globe's requests in Ottawa for a timeline on legislative changes went nowhere.

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