Peter Atkinson Settles with Ontario Securities Commission Related to Conduct at Hollinger Inc.

TORONTO, Sept. 23, 2013 /CNW/ - The Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) today approved a settlement agreement reached between Staff and Peter Atkinson, a former senior officer and a director of Hollinger Inc.

Atkinson acknowledged that he was convicted of one count of fraud in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois in relation to his collection of a purported non-competition payment from a Hollinger subsidiary.  He also acknowledged that the United States Securities and Exchange Commission found that he had committed securities fraud and entered an order barring him from acting as an officer or director of a reporting issuer in the United States.

Atkinson had previously entered into interim undertakings to the Commission in March 2006 and April 2007 providing that he would not become an officer or director of a public company in Ontario, that he would not become a registrant or an officer, director or employee of a registrant in Ontario, and that he would not trade or acquire any securities of Hollinger Inc. pending the conclusion of the OSC proceeding.  Under the terms of today's settlement agreement, Atkinson has agreed to make these undertakings permanent.

"This settlement makes clear that individuals who are convicted of securities-related fraud will not have the privilege of free access to the Ontario capital markets," said Tom Atkinson, Director of Enforcement at the Commission.

SOURCE: Ontario Securities Commission

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