The Alberta Securities Commission (ASC) has settled insider trading charges with the chief of an energy company that traded in his company’s shares, knowing that another firm had expressed interest in buying it.
In a settlement with the commission the former president and CEO, of Daylight Energy, Anthony Lambert, agreed to pay out the $129,000 profit he made from the trades in question, plus another $100,000 towards the costs of the ASC’s investigation. He also agreed not to become a director of a reporting issuer for two years; and that he must only trade through a registered rep that has been given a copy of the settlement for two years.
In settling the case, Lambert admitted that he “made an error in judgment” when he purchased Daylight Energy shares back in August 2011 with knowledge of an unsolicited letter of interest from Sinopec International Petroleum Exploration and Production Company (SIPC) regarding the possible acquisition of Daylight Energy. Sinopec acquired the firm several months later, and Lambert remains president and CEO of the subsidiary.
According to the ASC, while he did not believe the letter was material information that would prohibit trading, Lambert acknowledged that as the firm’s president and CEO he was “obliged to be carefully attuned to trading issues.”
“It is important that senior company officials — insiders — understand that insiders cannot trade while in possession of undisclosed material information; whether or not that material information must yet be disclosed under our continuous disclosure regime,” said Bill Rice, chair and CEO of the ASC and chair of the Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA). “Additionally, if in doubt, insiders should always err on the side of caution and not trade.”