Tavistock Capital Corp. and its director, Robert Lawrence, have entered into a settlement agreement with the British Columbia Securities Commission (BCSC), agreeing that Lawrence and Tavistock will jointly pay $200,000 to settle with the BCSC in a case where Tavistock purchased issuer shares during a private placement while also engaged in a consulting agreement with that issuer.
For engaging in the insider trading, both Tavistock and Lawrence are also banned for three years from purchasing any securities or exchange contracts of any reporting issuers they are in a special relationship with. A hearing for the other respondents named in the BCSC’s amended notice of hearing will begin in September 2023.
According to the BCSC, in July 2018, Tavistock, a British Columbia company, purchased shares of an issuer listed on the Canadian Securities Exchange for $625,000 as part of a private placement. What was unknown to others at the time was the fact that the issuer paid most of the private placement funds to the consultants as consulting fees. Tavistock subsequently sold the shares for about $285,000.
“Tavistock, as a consultant, was in a special relationship with the issuer. Tavistock contravened the Securities Act by transacting in shares of the issuer while knowing the material fact that had not been generally disclosed. Tavistock’s director, Robert John Lawrence, also contravened the act by authorizing or permitting Tavistock’s misconduct,” the BCSC writes in its announcement about the settlement. “As a result of this settlement, the executive director has issued a notice of discontinuance with respect to Tavistock and Lawrence.”
