The British Columbia Securities Commission (BCSC) has declined to hear a former rep’s appeal of an Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC) decision banning him from the industry, ruling that the appeal was out of time.
The BCSC last week issued its reasons for declining to hear an appeal of the IIROC decision banning Scott Lower from the industry after he failed to co-operate with an IIROC investigation.
See: IIROC bans Vancouver rep for refusal to co-operate with investigation
According to the BCSC decision, Lower was banned by IIROC back in 2009; he applied to the commission for a review of the IIROC decision in August 2015. IIROC sought an order from the BCSC to refuse to hear the case on the grounds that it was out of time.
Under IIROC rules, appeals have to be brought within 30 days of an IIROC decision. Lower put forward numerous arguments in favour of holding a hearing and reviewing the IIROC decision, the BCSC decision indicates. Among them, Lower argued that the 30-day limit didn’t apply in his case, and that his case should be subject to the six-year limitation period set out in securities law.
However,the BCSC found that the IIROC decision was validly sent to Lower, and met all the requirements for triggering the 30-day limit for appeals. As result, the commission found that Lower’s appeal, which came almost six years after the IIROC decision, “was clearly out of time”.
The BCSC also found that it did not have the authority to extend the time limit. “It would be meaningless for the legislature to set out a statutory time limit if a commission panel could simply set another time limit or grant an exemption at any time,” the BCSC decision says.