(December 17 – 09:55 ET) – The BC Securities Commission has settled with securities lawyer Michael Lee Seifert after he admitted to insider trading violations.
Seifert and the BCSC agreed to a 12-year trading ban and $450,000 in fines and costs. Seifert also agreed not to act as a director or officer of reporting companies, engage in investor relations, or act as a filing solicitor for 12 years.
BCSC executive director Steve Wilson said it demanded the unusual restriction “because of Seifert’s privileged position as a lawyer when he breached securities laws.”
The BCSC said its investigators uncovered Seifert’s violations by tracking his trading through multiple accounts in several jurisdictions including the Channel Islands. “A level playing field for all investors is an essential condition for fair and efficient capital markets,” Wilson said. “This case should act as a clear warning to those who would go offshore to skirt our securities laws. The commission will take the necessary steps – including travelling halfway around the world – to expose these activities.”
Seifert was an insider in several B.C. companies including Delgratia Mining Corp., Consolidated Dencam Development Corp., and Allied Strategies Ltd. for various periods between January 1992 and September 1995. He was also legal counsel for Arakis Energy Corp.
Back in February the BCSC settled with Arakis’ former president and chief executive officer, James Terrence Alexander. He agreed to a 20-year trading ban, $1.2 million in fines and costs, and a prohibition against acting as a director or officer of any issuer and from engaging in investor relations activities.
-IE Staff