An executive assistant at investment dealer GMP Securities L.P. obtained inside information about several companies and tipped others who traded on that information, according to an Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) hearing panel.
The panel handed down its decision Thursday in the OSC’s case against Eda Marie Agueci and several other people that were accused of trading on inside information supplied by Agueci, including: Dennis Wing, the president and CEO of suspended investment dealer Fort House Inc.; Kim Stephany, a Fort House rep; Agueci’s brother-in-law; her cousin; and others.
The panel found that Agueci, who was employed as an executive assistant in the mining group of the corporate finance department at GMP from 2002 to 2011, learned undisclosed material facts about several companies and passed those along to certain associates, including Wing and Stephany, both of whom she worked with at First Marathon Securities Ltd. for 14 years staring in 1987.
The panel also found that Agueci violated the public interest by misleading the commission during its investigation, improperly informing others about evidence that she’d provided in a compelled examination by the regulator, and for maintaining secret brokerage accounts.
The panel found that Wing, Stephany and others traded on the inside information, and that Wing violated the public interest by misleading the commission during its investigation.
“In our view, there is no question that Wing should have understood the seriousness of an investigation and examination by staff. His attempts to mislead staff while he was under oath represent a very serious abuse of his responsibilities and an egregious disregard for the commission’s investigative process,” the panel said in its reasons. “We consider his conduct to be highly abusive of the capital markets and contrary to the public interest.”
The OSC didn’t prove all of its allegations in the case. The panel found that, while it was satisfied that Agueci passed along inside information to some people, the allegations that she tipped others were not proven. The panel also found that one of the alleged instances of Agueci receiving inside information was not proven, so the associated allegations of tipping and insider trading in that instance weren’t proven either.
The large, complex case consumed 57 hearing days, starting in 2013, and wrapping up last spring. Given its finding of assorted violations, the panel has now set April 13 and 14 as the dates for a hearing on sanctions in the case.
Earlier, the commission settled with Goldcorp chairman Ian Telfer in connection with the case. He admitted to violating the public interest by advising Agueci to use Blackberry PIN messages instead of email to communicate, and for engaging in an undisclosed transaction involving Agueci.
In settling the case, Telfer was reprimanded and agreed to pay $200,000 towards the costs of the investigation.