The British Columbia Securities Commission has settled with an Ontario-based investment firm that admitted to allowing one of its employees to trade in securities that were under a cease trade order.

On June 5, 2008, the BCSC issued a cease trade order against GeoGlobal Resources Inc., an Alberta-based oil and gas exploration company that is a reporting issuer in British Columbia.

John Gunther Jr., a registered representative employed at Jones, Gable & Co. Ltd., bought and sold GeoGlobal securities while the BCSC cease trade oreder was in place. Jones, an Ontario-based investment firm, failed to detect the cease trade order at the time of the trades.

On June 26, Jones detected a posted cease trade order issued against GeoGlobal by the Autorité des Marchés Financiers (AMF). Jones identified the BCSC cease trade orderand self-reported the breach of the order to the commission on the same day. The firm subsequently cancelled Gunther’s sales of GeoGlobal shares in July.

Under the settlement agreement, Jones will pay $2,000 to the BCSC for breaching its cease trade order against GeoGlobal.