This item is part of Stockwatch's value added news feed and is only available to Stockwatch subscribers.

Here is a sample of this item:

by Mike Caswell

The B.C. Securities Commission has begun proceedings against Toronto securities lawyer Shimmy Posen, claiming that he artificially lowered the price of a Canadian Securities Exchange listing through a wash trade. The BCSC says that Mr. Posen lowered the price ahead of a planned private placement, entering a half-cent trade through an entity in his wife's name. The trade allowed the company to obtain approval for a three-cent private placement, the BCSC says.

The allegations are contained in a very brief notice of hearing that the BCSC released on Thursday, March 27. The BCSC cites Mr. Posen, a partner at Toronto law firm Garfinkle Biderman LLP, for a single trade in CSE listing Waraba Gold Ltd. in January, 2024. (The BCSC does not identify Waraba by name, but the circumstances make it clear that Waraba is the company.)

The case arises from a private placement that Mr. Posen was arranging on behalf of Waraba. According to the BCSC, he had requested approval from the CSE to issue 10 million shares at three cents. The CSE initially refused, saying that the company's share price was not low enough for a three-cent placement. (If a placement is below five cents, the CSE looks at a company's 20-day volume-weighted average price. At the time, Waraba's average price was 7.8 cents, which was too high for a three-cent private placement.)

The remainder is available to Stockwatch subscribers.
Sign-up for a FREE 30-day Stockwatch subscription and SEE NO ADS