Court refuses ASC appeal

An Alberta court on Wednesday denied leave to appeal decisions of the Alberta Securities Commission (ASC) that rejected demands for disclosure and declined to consider constitutional issues in an ongoing enforcement proceeding.

The Court of Appeal of Alberta dismissed an application from a respondent in an ASC enforcement case, which alleged that four people participated in a market manipulation scheme and breached insider reporting requirements.

The allegations have not been proven.

At the start of the hearing in February, the hearing panel denied an application from one of the respondents in that case, Marc Evan Levy, seeking further disclosure from ASC staff, including complaints received by the regulator, staff notes and all investigative reports.

Among other things, the panel concluded that the demand for further disclosure came too late, as it was delivered on the eve of the hearing, 10 months after the deadline for pre-hearing applications and without any prior notice. The panel also ruled that some of the relief that was requested can’t be granted by the ASC, and that a constitutional challenge was filed without sufficient notice.

Levy then turned to the courts seeking leave to appeal those rulings — and requested a stay of the case, which is slated to resume on May 13, pending the appeal.

Now, the court has denied leave, noting that it will only review interim decisions of administrative tribunals in “rare and exceptional circumstances” such as a clear miscarriage of justice.

In this case, the court said, “The panel’s decisions do not constitute manifest injustice.”

It found that the panel’s rulings were “based on the materials before them and cannot be considered arbitrary or so clearly wrong that it would amount to an injustice.”

The court denied permission to appeal, saying that Levy will be entitled to challenge the panel’s decisions once a final decision in the case is handed down.

James Langton

James is a senior reporter for Advisor.ca and its sister publication, Investment Executive. He has been reporting on regulation, securities law, industry news and more since 1994.