A British Columbia Securities Commission (BCSC) panel has permanently banned Gordon Brent Pierce from the province’s capital markets, citing his history of securities misconduct in British Columbia and in the United States involving illegal distributions, the BCSC announced on Tuesday.
In its decision, the panel says Pierce “poses a grave risk” to the markets, given that: he “has a significant history of securities regulatory misconduct”; his misconduct in the U.S. occurred while he was banned in B.C.; there are “similar elements to his history of misconduct”; and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) concluded that there is “a significant risk to reoffend”.
“Given the serious nature of Pierce’s misconduct in the United States, the damage caused by him to the capital markets and the investing public, his significant prior history of securities regulatory misconduct and our view that he represents a grave risk to our capital markets, we find it to be in the public interest to permanently ban Pierce from our capital markets,” the panel says in its ruling.
The BCSC ban is based on two SEC orders against Pierce that include sanctions for securities related misconduct. He was previously banned for 15 years by the BCSC back in 1993 in a settlement with the commission.
According to the BCSC’s latest decision, Pierce argued that the provincial regulator does not have jurisdiction to make orders against him until all of his current efforts to vacate the SEC orders against him in the U.S. are exhausted.
He also argued that “stacking the terms of market prohibitions for multiple elements of misconduct is not appropriate in the regulatory context,” and there is no evidence of financial loss associated with his misconduct in the U.S., along with other things.
Although the panel acknowledged there is no evidence of financial loss, “investors have been harmed by Pierce’s misconduct,” the panel says, and he profited from that misconduct.
The panel also found that “a significant aggravating factor” is that he tried to hide his illegal trading activity.
“This demonstrates a clear and concerted effort to circumvent and evade securities laws. Pierce’s misconduct in the U.S. did not arise as a result of careless or reckless behavior, but rather misconduct carried out with intent,” the panel says in its decision.
The panel concluded Pierce should be permanently banned from trading, registration, and from acting as a director or officer in B.C.
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