The Ontario Securities Commission on Monday approved a settlement with the former controller of Saxton Investments Ltd., Robert Davies, which imposes a 10-year cease trade order.

The OSC also ordered Davies be prohibited from becoming an officer or director of an issuer for 10 years, reprimanded him and ordered him to pay $2,000 in costs.

As part of the settlement, Davies admitted that between October 1996 and December 1997, Saxton investors received quarterly account statements that inflated the value of shareholders’ investments and were misleading to investors and Saxton salespeople. Davies did not personally benefit from his misconduct.

At the time, there was no record of any revenue generation by the Saxton operations and thus no ability for Saxton to establish the net results of the operation. Since there was no market for the securities, no market value ought to be have been attributed to the securities.

In approving the settlement agreement, panel chair Lorne Morphy said that, as a professional, Davies’ conduct fell far below the level expected of him.

Copies of the settlement agreement are available on the Commission’s Web site, www.osc.gov.on.ca.