$210,000 in penalties levied against former fund manager and directors

Failed investment fund manager, exempt market dealer and portfolio manager, Chartwell Asset Management Inc., along with Gregory Paul James Cameron, Wah Bo Chew, and Matthew Evans Cameron, entered into a settlement agreement with the British Columbia Securities Commission (BCSC) resulting in penalties against the group totalling $210,000, plus sanctions prohibiting all from participating in various market activities.

The BCSC says the Surrey, British Columbia investment firm failed to meet the standard of care for an investment manager when it loaned a large proportion of one fund's assets to a corporation which ultimately stopped making interest payments before defaulting on the loan agreement altogether. 

“In the settlement agreement with the BCSC, Chartwell admitted that it did not have sufficient information about Health Capital to support its calculation of the value of the fund, nor did it re-evaluate the fund’s valuation in light of multiple risk indicators,” the BCSC writes in its announcement about the settlement. “By doing so, Chartwell failed in its duty as an investment fund manager to exercise the degree of care, diligence and skill that a reasonably prudent person would exercise in the circumstances.” 

Under the terms of the settlement agreement, Gregory Cameron will pay $100,000, Chew must pay $70,000 to the BCSC and Matthew Cameron must pay $40,000. In addition, Gregory Cameron is banned from becoming or acting as a director or officer, registrant or promoter for 15 years. Chew is prohibited from becoming a director or officer of any reporting issuer for 10 years and Matthew Cameron is prohibited for four years from serving as a chief compliance officer.

Chew and Matthew Cameron will also be subject to supervision until they have been registered cumulatively for four and three years, respectively. Chartwell is also permanently prohibited from purchasing securities or acting as a registrant or promoter. The company surrendered its registration in the portfolio manager, investment fund manager and exempt market dealer categories back in January 2020.