Regulators in British Columbia are making their first ever use of new powers to make restitution to investors.
The B.C. Securities Commission (BCSC) said Thursday it is seeking to return more than $130,000 to investors that lost money to a scheme involving Canadian Pacific Consulting and Michael Robert Shantz.
Back in 2012, a BCSC panel found that Shantz and CPC committed fraud by soliciting investors to open trading accounts with the firm in order to trade gold futures or foreign exchange. The panel fined Shantz $630,000, ordered more than $1.5 million in disgorgement, and ordered that he be permanently banned from B.C.’s capital markets.
See: BCSC issues lifetime ban against B.C. man for fraud
The funds that are now being made available to victims were frozen during the regulator’s initial investigation in the case. The BCSC is inviting investors to make an application for compensation by March 19, 2018.
“This is the first time the commission has been able to use its new powers to return money to investors,” said Paul Bourque, executive director of the BCSC. “We want investors who lost money to CPC and Shantz to make claims and recover part of their investment. We hope there will be more opportunities in the future to return money to investors.”
The commission’s new power to return money to investors is the result of changes that were made to the province’s securities legislation in 2013, which require the commission to make funds that have been paid to it available to eligible investors who lost money as a result of respondent misconduct.