An Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) hearing into insider trading allegations against a couple of advisors will go ahead next month, a commission panel has ruled, denying a defence motion for a further adjournment.
The OSC denied a motion from two of the respondents in the case, former CIBC World Markets advisors, Paul Azeff and Korin Bobrow, who were seeking to adjourn the hearing, which is scheduled to start September 18, because a consultant they retained to help with their defence has lost her work and is still trying to rebuild it; and, a third party has failed to provide information requested on their trading records.
According to the decision, the consultant, Kim Stewart, lost 600 hours worth of work that she had completed for the case, through no fault of her own. And, as of July 14, she’d be able to recreate less than half of it. She expects it to take six to nine months to fully recover the work. The respondents sought an adjournment to give her time to fully recover her work.
In its decision, the panel said that there are competing interests in the case. On one hand, the respondents must have a proper opportunity to present their defence. On the other, there is the need for a timely and efficient adjudicative process, it said.
“This matter has had a long and intense history before the commission,’ the decision notes. Allegations were brought in 2010, dealing with events that took place between 2004 and 2007. “It is a mature matter that should be determined by an adjudicative hearing,” it says; noting that if an adjournment is granted, a new hearing likely couldn’t be scheduled before September 2015.
Ultimately, the panel concluded that “Stewart is sufficiently prepared from what we have heard … to deal with all of staff’s allegations.” To provide a bit more time, the panel agreed to start the hearing 11 days later on September 29, meaning that it will run into late December rather than wrapping up in mid-November as originally expected.