A spouse's account, unfiled insider reports and a $1.94 share price peak
A former company director admitted to manipulative trading in an October 13, 2026 settlement, agreeing to pay $105,000 and accept eight-year market restrictions.
The Alberta Securities Commission deal, signed with its executive director, also covers missed insider reports. He sat on the board of a software company that traded on the Canadian Securities Exchange from October 2019 to September 2022.
A stock that went from 13 cents to $1.94
Shares of the British Columbia company climbed from $0.13 on April 1, 2020 to a high of $1.94 on August 24, 2020, then slid to $0.47 on November 20, 2020. The climb began before the company announced, around May 21, 2020, a letter of intent to buy a disinfectant products seller.
That day, trading was halted at the company's request. Three days later, it announced a definitive deal to buy the business. Its shares did not trade again until September 8, 2021, under a new name.
Commission staff set out allegations against the director and three others in an April 2, 2024 notice of hearing. Allegations against one were withdrawn when he settled on May 29, 2025, and against a second on December 12, 2025. The agreement does not say where things stand for the fourth.
Upticks, bid support and a spouse's account
From February to November 2020, the director traded the company's shares through two brokerage accounts in his own name, one self-directed and one full-service. He also controlled and beneficially owned a full-service account in his spouse's name, which he used almost solely for those shares from April 2020. He bought 527,200 shares and sold 7,700.
He admitted coordinating with some or all of the others, depending on the day. His orders produced 82 buy trades. Of those, 22 were upticks, meaning they pushed the price above the last trade, and 25 filled in the day's final trading hour. He placed 105 buy orders while others lined up staggered bids at or below the best available bid. That bid support, the agreement says, created an artificial price floor when selling picked up.
He and the others timed trades to company news releases, in an effort to hide their trading. The others did not sign this agreement, and the director accepted its facts solely for securities regulatory purposes. The commission's regulatory message states, "Market manipulation strikes at the heart of capital markets."
Eight years with a dealer in the loop
As a director, he was an insider who had to report his trades. Between November 2 and 9, 2019, he bought 547,756 shares from another director without filing those reports. He also failed to report on the spouse's account and all company shares he bought or sold.
The $105,000 includes $20,000 in costs. He must resign any director or officer role at a reporting issuer, or publicly reporting company. For eight years, he cannot hold those roles, do investor relations work, or act in a management or consulting capacity in the securities market for one.
During that time, he can trade only through a full-service account he legally and beneficially owns at a registered dealer in Canada. He must first hand the dealer a copy of the agreement, and he cannot send the dealer unsolicited orders. He had no prior commission sanctions and waived any hearing or appeal. The agreement may also form the basis for orders elsewhere in Canada. As the regulatory message says, "Market integrity is not negotiable."
