Matthew T. Burgoyne
Jan 18, 2024
Canadian securities laws are designed to protect and inform investors prior to making considerable financial decisions. Through prospectuses, the law requires complex documentation about a business’s management, history and offering risks and it takes significant time to complete, says Matthew Burgoyne, Osler partner and Co-Chair of the firm’s Digital Assets and Blockchain group, in an interview with CBC News.
Matthew was speaking specifically about a recent decision from the Alberta Securities Commission (ASC), which ordered Devon Christopher Edwards, director of KB Crypto Inc., to pay a $40,000 penalty and stop buying and selling securities and derivatives after investors in the company experienced serious financial losses.
“The likelihood of that happening through a registered dealer is very low because of all these checks and balances that are involved in the registration process,” Matthew says.
Although Edwards contacted the ASC in 2021 about his capital market activities, he did not respond to their requests for a written description or provide an analysis explaining why registration wasn’t needed.
“This decision is an example of a regulator that is really trying to protect investors and is trying to set an example and deter others from doing the same thing,” explains Matthew.
You can read the full article, “Edmonton man and his cryptocurrency company sanctioned for breaching Alberta securities laws,” on CBC.ca.