ASC finds that Paul Anthony Ogilvie breached Alberta securities laws

CALGARY, AB, Aug. 5, 2022 /CNW/ - The Alberta Securities Commission (ASC) has found that Paul Anthony Ogilvie breached the Securities Act (Alberta) when he made, or authorized Saint Jean Carbon Inc. (Saint Jean) to make, misleading statements in two news releases issued by Saint Jean in February and March 2017.

The first news release announced that Saint Jean had received its first order from Panasonic Corporation to supply graphite anode material to its manufacturing facility, and that the order was part of an offtake agreement to supply large quantities of such material for a number of years. In reality, Panasonic had only requested a minimal sample order with nominal value for testing purposes, and had not entered into an agreement or made a commitment to take any amount of graphite at any time. The second news release purported to clarify the first release, but still falsely claimed that Saint Jean and Panasonic were working to finalize an offtake agreement as soon as possible.

In its decision, an ASC panel determined that certain statements in the first news release (including the suggestion that the order was part of an offtake agreement for future supply) were misleading or patently untrue. It also found that the reference to the parties working to conclude an agreement in the second release was untrue. The panel concluded that Ogilvie knew these statements were misleading or untrue in a material respect, and that they would reasonably be expected to have a significant effect on the market price or value of Saint Jean's securities.

The proceeding will now move into a second phase to determine what, if any, orders for sanction or cost-recovery ought to be made against Ogilvie. The timing of the next steps will be set after hearing from the parties.

A copy of the decision is available on the ASC website at asc.ca.  

Allegations made in a notice of hearing issued in June 2020 against Saint Jean were resolved by a settlement agreement in December 2020.

The ASC gratefully acknowledges the assistance of the British Columbia Securities Commission, the Ontario Securities Commission and the Autorité des marchés financiers in this matter.

The ASC is the regulatory agency responsible for administering the province's securities laws. It is entrusted with fostering a fair and efficient capital market in Alberta and with protecting investors. As a member of the Canadian Securities Administrators, the ASC works to improve, coordinate and harmonize the regulation of Canada's capital markets.

SOURCE Alberta Securities Commission