A hearing has been scheduled next month by the Ontario Securities Commission to inquire into the alleged illegal sale of shares in Vancouver-based Aatra Resources (VSE) by Toronto-based Durham Securities Corp. The OSC alleges that shares of Aatra were unlawfully distributed in Ontario last year by Durham Securities without the proper filing of a prospectus as required under the Ontario Securities Act.
The hearing notice also alleges that Durham acted in a manner prejudicial to the public interest by selling shares of Aatra and of Bayridge Developments, another British Columbia company.
“Durham published and distributed to clients various reports on Aatra and Bayridge which were promotional and misleading,” says the OSC. Some of the material included undated reports and news releases. A salesman employed by Durham is also alleged to have used “various high pressure and improper sales practices to sell the shares of Aatra and Bayridge,” says the OSC.
Aatra is a reporting issuer in British Columbia, but not in Ontario, while Durham is a securities dealer based in Toronto. David Foster is the president of Durham and owns about 70% of the company’s issued shares.
The hearing is set for Oct. 1 at the Toronto offices of the Ontario Securities Commission.
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