The Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) has extended its cease trade order against the founder of failed First Leaside Group, David Charles Phillips, until the conclusion of its hearing into the allegations against him.
Back in May, the OSC issued a temporary order cease trading Phillips and denying him regulatory exemptions. The temporary order has since been extended until Sept. 28, and today, the commission said that it should remain in effect until a hearing, which is scheduled to start on February 11, 2013, is completed. Phillips did not oppose the extension.
In June, the OSC brought allegations against Phillips, the founder of failed Uxbridge, Ont.-based First Leaside, and a senior salesman at its investment dealer subsidiary, John Russell Wilson, charging that they “intentionally deceived investors by selling and overseeing the sales of almost $19 million in securities while withholding important information”; namely that a report from an independent accounting firm indicated that the firm’s was in danger of going under unless it raised new capital. The allegations have not been proven
The firm itself was cease traded in November 2011; and, in February of this year, a court-supervised wind-up was initiated. The OSC issued the temporary cease trade order against Phillips in May, over concerns that he was trading after his registration was suspended by helping to raise money for First Leaside companies.