ASC sanctions Coastal Pacific Mining Corp. for contravening Alberta securities laws
CALGARY, Feb. 8, 2017 /CNW/ - The Alberta Securities Commission (ASC) has sanctioned Coastal Pacific Mining Corp. for contravening Alberta securities laws.
Coastal, whose shares were quoted on the over-the-counter markets in the United States, was involved in a campaign that artificially stimulated demand for Coastal shares. During this campaign, more than 12,000 investors bought Coastal shares, which traded in dramatically higher trading volumes with pronounced but short-lived price gains. After the campaign, Coastal trading volumes and prices plummeted. An ASC panel found that Coastal acted contrary to the public interest by engaging in "a blatant market manipulation" that was "obviously incompatible with a fair and efficient capital market, and dangerous for investors."
The panel ordered that:
- all trading in or purchasing of Coastal securities must permanently cease;
- Coastal is permanently prohibited from using any exemptions under Alberta securities laws; and
- Coastal disgorge C$297,289 and US$41,165 obtained as a result of non-compliance with Alberta securities laws, and pay C$20,383 of the investigation and hearing costs.
The panel considered Coastal's misconduct to be serious, deliberate and a "reprehensible abuse of investors and the capital market." The panel also stated that it "was the sort of misconduct, and investor harm, that can foreseeably undermine investor confidence in the capital market generally," which "can in turn impede the ability of legitimate businesses to raise capital in compliance with the Act." The panel concluded that significant sanctions were warranted against Coastal, delivering substantial specific and general deterrence.
A copy of the decision is available on the ASC website at www.albertasecurities.com.
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
For Media Inquiries: Nicole Tuncay, Senior Communications Advisor, 403.297.4008; For Investor Inquiries: ASC Public Inquiries, Toll Free 1.877.355.4488
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