Opportunity to be heard and Director’s decisions

When Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) staff recommend that the Director refuse, amend, or suspend registration, or impose terms and conditions on a registration, OSC staff will send the registered individual or firm a letter called a “Letter of Brief Reasons” that provides written notice of its recommendation and brief reasons for it. When the recommendation pertains to an individual applicant, a copy of the letter is also sent to the sponsoring firm. Section 31 of Ontario’s Securities Act and Section 23(3) of Ontario’s Commodity Futures Act then provides that the individual or firm may request to be heard by the Director before a decision is made concerning staff’s recommendation. This is known as an “opportunity to be heard”.

Opportunity to be heard

An opportunity to be heard is normally conducted in writing, although it can also be conducted verbally, in person. The Director will then issue a decision on the matter in writing to the firm or individual, and to OSC staff. The firm or individual subsequently has 30 days from the date of the decision to request, in writing and by registered mail, a review of the Director’s decision.

Please note: not all Director’s decisions are confidential and staff will publish the following types of Director’s decisions:

  • decisions for contested opportunities to be heard
  • decisions approving joint recommendations to settle an opportunity to be heard where the recommendation is that the registrant be suspended
  • decisions approving joint recommendations to settle an opportunity to be heard where the recommendation is that terms and conditions requiring strict supervision be imposed

Furthermore, staff will publish the following Director’s decisions even when an opportunity to be heard has not been requested:

  • decisions to suspend a registrant
  • decisions to impose terms and conditions requiring strict supervision

Search for Director’s decisions

Decisions of the Director on registration matters arising out of opportunities to be heard are searchable according to year and topic. The topics represent some of the main issues that arise in these Director’s decisions.

The fact that a decision is listed under a particular heading means that the conduct described by the heading was alleged in the case, and not necessarily that the director found the individual or company responsible for the conduct. In addition, some decisions involve more than one issue and accordingly they appear under multiple headings. Stakeholders should read a decision in full before referring to it for any purpose.

Director’s decisions on registration matters that have been issued since March 12, 2003 are published and are searchable. Decisions of the Director and of the Commission which occurred prior to 2003 can be found in the OSC Bulletin.

This Director’s decision listing is for informational purposes only, and is not intended to be legal advice. Stakeholders may wish to consult legal counsel if they have any questions about the application of a particular decision to their own circumstances.

January 26, 2024 Samer Shamshum

December 19, 2023 Pollitt Investment Counsel Inc.

December 18, 2023 Theresia Fonny Hofan

September 18, 2023 Ensign Capital Inc.

July 7, 2023 Marco Tulio Pagoada Vallecillo

June 16, 2023 Gravitas Securities Inc.

May 11, 2023, Emerge Canada Inc.

March 29, 2023 Caitlin Eloise Gossage

October 21, 2021 Gross Securities Corp.

September 2, 2021 John Kodric

June 14, 2021 Michelle Kamerman

March 15, 2021 Ardenton Financial Inc.

December 3, 2020 Becksley Capital Inc. and Fabrizio Lucchese

September 23, 2020 Kyle Krajewski

August 7, 2020 W. A. Robinson Asset Management Ltd.

July 21, 2020 John Doe

June 29, 2020 Ramzee Tams

June 5, 2020 PACE Securities Corp.

May 5, 2020 Trevor Rosborough

April 22, 2020 Michael Forsey

March 10, 2020 RWS Capital Services Inc.

February 24, 2020 Arie Papernick

February 7, 2020 Jonathan Covello

January 27, 2020 Merit Valor Capital Asset Management Corporation

November 21, 2018 Maria Psihopedas

October 29, 2018 Donald Mason (ADDENDUM)

October 18, 2018 Glenn Coulson

Sept 7, 2018 Chris Triantos

July 18, 2018 Karine Brizard

July 18, 2018 Anna Joanna Knight

July 17, 2018 Antonetta Adebayo

May 31, 2018 Todd Milligan

November 27, 2017 Bonwick Capital Partners, LLC

November 14, 2017 R. Alan Filer

November 13, 2017 Hugh Smilestone

November 13, 2017 Pierre Prieur

September 28, 2017 Acker Finley Asset Management Inc

August 15, 2017 Sital Singh Dhillon

July 13, 2017 Kashmir Singh Marok

June 22, 2017 Hanane Bouji

April 4, 2017 Christopher Aqui

November 25, 2010 Abdelkader Hamdan

November 9, 2010 Ittihad Securities Inc.

September 22, 2010 Carter Securities Inc.

August 12, 2010 Townend, Lance Cory

June 7, 2010 Counsel Portfolio Services Inc.

February 5, 2010 John Doe

February 1, 2010 Trafalgar Associates Limited

October 1, 2007 Connors, Theresa Darlene

September 6, 2007 Menkara, Amer Adnan

August 23, 2007 Wall, Jack

August 10, 2007 Istanbul, Hacik

February 28, 2007 McLachlan, W.R. Shawn

November 15, 2005 Enterprise Capital Management Inc.

September 27, 2005 Optimal Models and Decisions Inc.

August 31, 2005 Michalik, Jan

August 29, 2005 Khan, Sarwat Roohi

August 10, 2005 Hansberger Global Investors Inc.

June 1, 2005 DeSilva, Roy Gamini

February 25, 2005 Boisvert, Andre Edouard