The Alberta Securities Commission (ASC) has prohibited Calgary resident Brian Paul Kuhn from relying on any exemption contained in Alberta Securities laws until Sept. 30, 2014. The ASC panel also ordered Kuhn to cease trading in or purchasing securities or exchange contracts until Sept. 30, 2009.

The ASC panel based the reciprocal order on a British Columbia Securities Commission sanction imposed in September 2002. In those proceedings, Kuhn admitted he provided investors with documents containing false representations and that he failed to exercise due diligence on behalf of his clients. He further admitted that a number of investor cheques were made payable to his spouse and not endorsed for deposit into a trust account.

The ASC panel’s decision also had regard to criminal proceedings in the Cayman Islands issued in February 2004.

The ASC decision comes after the ASC learned in August 2007 that Kuhn had moved to Alberta and was working with a Calgary investment firm that was raising money for business ventures by relying on registration and prospectus exemptions under securities laws.

In its decision, the ASC panel noted that “participation in the Alberta capital market — a regulated sector — is a privilege. Our task is to protect that capital market and its investors, by means that can include constraining or withdrawing that privilege where appropriate.”