An Alberta Securities Commission (ASC) panel declined to follow the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) in banning a former investment banker amid allegations of improper insider trading.

The panel denied a bid from ASC staff seeking to reciprocate an order imposed by the OSC against Richard Moore, citing a lack of information in the case.

Last year, Moore entered a settlement agreement with the OSC, which imposed several sanctions including a 10-year trading ban and 15-year registration ban. (See Investment Executive, Ex investment banker to pay more than $800,000 for improper trades, April 16, 2013.)

ASC staff were seeking to impose a reciprocal order in Alberta. That reciprocation is not automatic however, the panel noted in its decision. It must conclude that the sanctions are also in the public interest in Alberta. The decision notes that the evidence to establish this doesn’t have to be extensive, and it may be contained within the settlement of decision that prompted the original sanctions.

However, in this case, the panel ruled that it didn’t have that evidence in the initial OSC order. “This is no criticism of the OSC order, which appears to serve its intended purpose. The difficulty is that we were given no additional information,” it says. “In the result, we do not know who Moore is, nor what he did (or failed to do) that led to the OSC process. We do not know what, if anything, was admitted in his settlement agreement with OSC staff, or what otherwise occurred that resulted in issuance of the OSC order.”

“We therefore do not know enough to determine whether Moore poses a risk to Alberta investors or the Alberta capital market,” it said, adding that it can’t determine whether it’s necessary to reciprocate the OSC order without more information.

Last year, the OSC and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) both announced settlements with Moore, formerly of CIBC and UBS, concerning allegations of improper trading ahead of corporate acquisitions.