CANADA: “A FIRST WORLD COUNTRY, WITH SECOND WORLD CAPITAL MARKETS AND THIRD WORLD ENFORCEMENT”

Out of over 100 countries that belong to IOSCO (Internation Organization of Securities Commission) Canada and Bosnia- Herzegovina are the only 2 that do not have a national level securities regulator.

In late 2011, the Supreme Court of Canada rejected the idea of implementing a national regulator, claiming that it was 'unconstitutional'. Finance minister, Jim Flaherty, commented earlier that it was an embarrassment to be the only industrialized country in the world that does not have a single national regulator.

I can personally say that many of my letters and phone calls have been answered by telling me that these complaints should be forwarded to the TSX or you must contact IIROC on this matter or this is out of province, you have to deal with BCSC. And then, in the end, I'm not certain if any of them are dealing with the matter as communication is completely severed by them for confidentiality purposes. To top matters off, when one exchange does see fit to rule on a matter, another regulator can come in and overturn that decision. Here are just 2 examples of this:

In 2005, the TSX Venture exchange denied Bill Nichols the right to serve as investor relations for 'New Cantech Ventures Inc'. This was not due to the fact that he killed a police officer and served 18 years in prison, as this crime was disclosed in his application. But what wasn't disclosed was his long list of other offences (19 in total) including extortion, armed robbery and forcible confinement. The TSX denied him stating that by not being honest and providing full disclosure, could be an indication that he remains untrustworthy. Nichols argues that he thought he only had to list the most serious offence on the application.

BCSC overturned the ruling stating:

In setting aside the Exchange's decision, the commission panel said that "the Exchange could not reasonably conclude, based on the evidence before us, that it should disqualify Nichols from performing investor relations activities for listed companies."

More recently, BCSC has overturned an IRROC ruling on Victoria broker, Carolann Steinhoff. What makes this interesting is this is not the first, nor the second, but the third time that BC securities have overruled IRROC on Steinhoff's behalf.

(IDA and RS consolidated in 2008 to become what is now known as IRROC)

BCSC overturns IDA decision against Carolann

Steinhoff

November 2, 2004 (Vancouver, British Columbia) - On October 28, 2004, the British Columbia Securities Commission allowed Ms. Steinhoff’s appeal of a decision of a panel of the Pacific District Council of the Association. That panel found that Ms. Steinhoff had effected one unauthorized trade in the account of a client and effected trades for Ontario residents when she was not registered to trade in Ontario. For these infractions, she had been fined a total of $5,250 and ordered to re-write the Conduct and Handbook Practices Course. The Association concurrently appealed the penalty decision to the BCSC on the basis that it was too low. The Commission's ruling means that Ms. Steinhoff is cleared of the IDA findings and that the Association’s appeal with respect to penalty was dismissed. The BCSC will issue reasons for its decision in due course.

British Columbia Securities Commission: Commission Overturns IIROC Panel Decision That Victoria Broker Contravened IIROC Rule

Fri, 1 Apr, 2011 12:45 PM EDT

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwire - April 1, 2011) - A British Columbia Securities Commission panel has overturned an Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC) panel decision that Victoria broker Carolann Steinhoff contravened IIROC rules.

In March of 2010, an IIROC panel found that Steinhoff, then employed at the Victoria branch of Wellington West Capital Inc., instructed or condoned a practice among her staff of altering and creating false client documents that included cutting and pasting clients' signatures. The panel also found that Steinhoff frustrated and obstructed investigations into her conduct.

The IIROC panel later suspended Steinhoff and made orders against her, including a fine of $60,000 and costs of $45,000. A commission panel stayed the IIROC orders pending the outcome of the commission's review of the IIROC panel decision.

After a hearing in March, 2011, the BCSC panel set aside both IIROC decisions, finding that the evidence the IIROC panel relied on in making its decision was insufficient.

2014-01-17 19:48 ET - Street Wire

by Mike Caswell

The B.C. Securities Commission has upheld $126,813 in fines that Victoria broker Carolann Steinhoff received for placing a young couple into unsuitable investments, but has rejected a suspension. A BCSC panel has ruled that any meaningful suspension would be too severe a sanction, given that it could effectively ruin her career. The decision is a review of an earlier ruling by the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada which, in addition to the fine, had suspended her for one year.

The penalty, handed down on Friday, Jan. 17, marks the third time that IIROC and the BCSC have disagreed on an appropriate sanction for Ms. Steinhoff. In two prior rulings, the BCSC entirely overturned fines that IIROC had imposed on her. With Friday's ruling, the BCSC has left her fine intact, but has declined to impose a suspension that IIROC had found was necessary, given conduct it described as egregious.

The penalties handed down Friday stem from losses that a young Victoria couple suffered in the summer of 2008. They had approached Ms. Steinhoff to invest $125,000 that they were holding from the sale of their house. They needed the money for a down payment on a new house they were to buy in three months. Ms. Steinhoff invested the couple's down payment in stocks ranging from banks to junior mining companies, with a substantial amount of the investments purchased on margin. Unfortunately for the couple, the market suffered a severe downturn in August, 2008, and the couple incurred a $69,096 loss.

http://www.carp.ca/2012/01/26/canada-supreme-court-nixes-securities-regulator/

http://www.canada.com/story_print.html?id=947ac5de-1729-4fe3-98ed-914dab6e9ccc&sponsor



http://www.bcsc.bc.ca/News/News_Releases/Commission_overturns_TSX_Venture_Exchange_decision_to_disqualify_Nichols/



http://www.iiroc.ca/Documents/2004/105001E1-D118-4913-A9E9-D15149156663_en.pdf





http://www.stockwatch.com/News/Item.aspx?bid=Z-C:*IIROC-2139344&symbol=*IIROC&region=C