A former North Shore stock promoter has lost a bid to have a $200,000 fine and permanent ban from the province's capital markets overturned.
A panel of three appeal court justices dismissed an appeal from James Terry Alexander, 66, who asked the court to overturn a 2007 decision of the B.C. Securities Commission which issued the fine and lifetime ban when Alexander violated a previous securities commission order.
In 1999, Alexander was handed a $1.2 million fine by the securities commission after admitting he contravened the Securities Act by secretly trading shares of his Vancouver Stock Exchange company Arakis Energy Corp. through offshore accounts in the Channel Islands. As part of a settlement with the commission, Alexander agreed not to act as an officer or director of any B.C. company, be involved in investor relations or trade in securities for the next 20 years.
But a subsequent investigation by the securities commission found Alexander had done just that, starting in May 2000, when he continued to act as a de facto director and officer of Pinewood Resources, a company set up to put together an oil exploration deal in Ethiopia.
In the appeal of his case, Alexander argued the penalty against him should be tossed out on several technical grounds.
He argued the 1999 order banning him for 20 years should be declared invalid because there was no hearing in his case. He also argued that in reaching its decision the commission relied on documents from one of his business associates that had not been authenticated. He also said the maximum fine at the time the 1999 order was issued was $100,000.
In a decision written by B.C. Court of Appeal Justice Daphne Smith, the court rejected those arguments, saying the 1999 decision of the securities commission was a "valid and enforceable order."
Smith noted the commission didn't rely solely on the business associate's letters and that enough evidence existed to support the commission's finding that Alexander had acted essentially as an officer and director of Pinewood, in contravention of the 1999 order.
Regarding the fine, Smith noted that Alexander's violations of the 1999 order continued until 2005. By then the maximum penalty had been increased to $250,000.
In its 2007 decision, the securities commission panel noted that credibility was a "significant issue" in the case and that "Alexander was not a credible witness."
The panel described Alexander as "a repeat offender who flagrantly disregarded securities laws" adding he has "demonstrated a pattern of behaviour that, in our view, is not likely to change."
